#I am so READY to hide the shit out of being a magic user from all his friends and family

[supersquiddle]

Jiro Wolfborn - Hobgoblin shadow sorcerer that I'll be playing in the Anbennar setting tonight

[capt-spooki3]

By The Witch's Grace

Chapter One

A Sbi "choose your own story" fanfiction

It seems Y/n, a known and hated magic user in their small town, has a lot to deal with after the rowdy bunch that is Philza, Wilbur, Technoblade, and Tommy, show up at their door step in the midst of a giant snow storm...

Warning: Cursing, talk of hate/discrimination

2.6k words

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“Alright, we need flour, milk, apples... Uh no no stop meowing, please. Shit okay, flour, milk, apples, and what? Oh god, was it- oh! Bottles! Of course, geez.” Y/n laughs at themself before kneeling down, and pets the head of their cat who was demanding their attention. The little feline, who looked like a little toasted marshmallow, purred and meowed as she was happy with the much-needed attention.

“Alright Poppy, I’ll be back. Be a good little girl for me, okay? I’ll be back in time to give you supper I promise.” They baby talked to the cat with little forehead kisses before getting back up to their feet and reaching toward the wall where a large cloak was hung on a large nail next to the door. They threw on the heavy fabric and clasped the small glass button to keep it on their shoulders, their hand lingering as it passed over the glassy eye that permanently stayed on a chain around their neck. The result of a curse placed, not too long ago, that bound it to their person until death. Just the luck of someone who often plays with magic that they can barely comprehend.

The piece would pass as a decoration to any untrained eye, but to those who delved into the arts of magic, any one of them could tell you what this object was. With the deep and light greens with accents of blue and a cat-eye pupil that was forever staring, there was no mistaking an eye of ender. The object was rich in stored-up mana, but it was no joke. Even with the most skilled of mages, they had to be most cautious and limit their time interacting with the eye. The sooner they distanced themself from it the better as the eye has been heavily rumored to take possession of people who use its magic for too long. Mages long past wrote notes in books, Y/n as read countless times, on how the eye has influenced beings to cause great harm and destruction. Its motives are still unknown. 

With the object on their person 24/7, they take caution every moment in case the eye decides it's time to take control. They hope it isn't any time soon.

Tucking the eye of ender under the latch of the cloak, they peeked outside to be met with chilled air kissing their cheeks. The bitter promise of snow.

More the reason to get their errands done as soon as they could to get back home. As if their life being in danger wasn’t the biggest reason to rush so they could hide again. They carefully pulled on their hood and hid as much of their features as they could within the cloak before stashing a satchel that jingled with coins and setting off through the door.

Being able to leave their distant home was always a treat, but also a constant threat to their life. They were never positive if they would return home after each venture. As a magic user, thoughtfully given the nickname of ‘Witch’ from the townsfolk, they weren’t liked much. They made the mistake of trying to show off their powers once before learning quickly that magic was despised among these people. It was only associated with the rich who treated people lower than them like they were dirt under their shiny boots. Luckily they still had a vendor in the town that sold to them, it was the only thing keeping them going.

After about a hour walk down a few winding forest paths that they carved out by themself after years of taking the same route, the port town was in view. Snow littered the ground to the sides of the dirt roads that they walked along and the small breeze that was present ran cold, the overcast sky promised a harsh amount of snow. That is bound to make next week fun. They sure were lucky to bring extra coins so they can stock up.

Once reaching the main town, they made sure to keep their head down and slip through the hundreds of bodies at the markets. It was all routine now, sadly. They took a turn down an alley that harbored a few stray cats and even a dog that scattered when they pressed on down the alley. Softly, they knocked a code to the shopkeep on the old wooden door.

The door just barely creaked open and an old green eye peered out. Y/n looked down to meet the weary eye peeking out at them and couldn't fight a smile. An old cackle rang out and the door opened up wide to an older woman. She was small and had all gray and white hair that was long and braided over her shoulder, but her eyes were alive and she was brimming with joy.

“Oh my little bird, how are you doing?” She said fondly with a slight German accent and Y/n knelt for the woman when she reached to hold their cheeks and look them over.

“I’m well Oma, thank you. You look as young as ever.” The kind words made the woman laugh and she put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh of contentment.

“So what do you need today? I just got in a big order of sugar if you want some.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful actually. I need flour, milk, and is Opa at his shop today? I need apples and he always has those bottles that I need.”

“Actually, he is home sick today,” She started and she walked into the shop to retrieve what Y/n needed. “He caught a small cold but he’ll be better soon. Wait just a moment and I’ll go grab everything.”

The lady went off on her way and Y/n sat on the doorstep, waiting and watching the people walk past the end of the alley. They cringed to themselves whenever they caught the word witch in some distant conversations, they seemed to be a tall tale at this point. At least they weren’t being actively hunted down anymore.

A few long minutes passed and there was a small thump that caught their attention in the shop, when they looked back there were two large sacks and no sign of the woman. Rest assured, after a few moments, the old lady was just barely managing to carry two more large sacks filled to the brim with the few things they had asked for plus much more as they usually only bring one sack home each trip.

“Oma! Oh no, I don’t have enough for all of this! Besides, I can’t possibly carry this all back home.”

“I know, I know. You’ll need it with the weather we have coming on tonight, as payment you can show me that magic you talked about last time. You know that… carrying magic..” She gestured wildly, trying her hardest to remember the word as Y/n stood back up.

“Oh, my spatial magic? I’m not too good at it, but I am sure I can manage this. Alright, are you ready?” They checked the alley for possible watching eyes before holding their hands out with their palms toward the bags.

The old woman stepped back and watched with excitement, her eyes practically sparkling already. Y/n closed their eyes and sucked in a deep breath, their hand flexing a bit and opening wider. A soft purple light began to emit from their hands and two thin, long arms that seemed to be made from the night sky itself stretched out and each hand touched the sack and engulfed it in darkness before retreating back within Y/n’s hands. They let out their held and concentrated breath with a deep sigh, their muscles and bones feeling heavy as they held some of the weight of the sacks within their being.

“That was amazing! Oh, you are so talented, I am so proud of you.” The woman said happily and walked forward, pulling Y/n down and kissing the head of the young mage she seemed to love. “Please hurry home now, stay safe. Opa and I love you and I hope to see you again soon.” 

She waved them off and Y/n waved back, pulling their hood down more for precaution, and slipped into the crowd toward the road they took back home. They felt rather blessed they were able to make it home without even a scare.

They walked along the road, waiting to see their well-worn path as the heaviness of their body grew with walking uphill. Using magic like this weighed on the body and the soul with however much the individual was carrying. They reached up, pulling down the clasp to their cloak to reveal the eye of ender to the world. As much as they didn't want to rely on its power, it was the only way they would confidently make it home. Grasping the warm object tight, it pulsed with magic beneath their fingers as if it were alive, they sent their mana into the eye to mix and grant them a magic boost. They knew quite well the item was evil and no good to toy with, what else should one do when it's bound to them for life? With a soft purple glow to their eyes now, their body felt lighter and the strain to keep their goodies in a personal pocket in the dimension lifted almost completely. They shook off their bits of anxiety with the gain of power and picked up the pace to get home as small flurries were filling the air around them.

The walk back home was fast and they were beyond relieved upon opening the door and feeling the hug of the warm cottage and a string of excited meows when their familiar raced to greet them.

“Hey Poppy, miss me?” They stroked the cat before kneeling on the ground to perform the same technique of magic for consuming the sacks to spit them back out onto the ground in front of them and hummed a soft tune while they went through the goodies and put them in their respected places around the three stories of the home. Before they noticed it, the world outside had grown dark and they lit the lanterns around the house and peered through a window to see the snow blowing strongly and the wind howling, they hadn’t even gotten a chance to see the sunset. This was turning out to be a real blizzard, they did a silent prayer that it wouldn’t last long.

Just as Y/n was trying to put the last of the sugar away there was a heavy thump on the door followed by a hurried couple of knocks of which were all inconsistent but did the job of grabbing their attention. They fumbled with the sugar but safely put it down before hurrying to the door, their fast movements spooked the cat and caused her to scramble away to go hide.

Once getting the locks undone they opened up the door to see four individuals standing there, waiting. Two of the larger individuals there stood on the sides to frame the group in a way. The one on the left most who had shoulder-length pink hair and noticeable tusks sticking out from his bottom lip and inhuman down pointed ears, was using his large, red cloak to hold a blond boy who was about to his shoulder, against him and shield him from the snow. The two both had on heavy armor, though, the blond’s armor was a bit more leather than metal. On the other end stood a taller man with brown hair who also was in armor and was hunched over to be able to get covered by a large dark grey wing that held him. Said wings belonging to a man who was shorter than the brunette and had on expensive-looking mage robes and messy blond hair. The winged man looked to Y/n in desperation as he began to speak.

“Please let us stay for the night. We will leave as the sun rises, please just-”

“Stop talking- just come in. Hurry! It’s got to be below zero out there.” Y/n hurriedly ushered the bunch inside as they held the door open for them.

The burly pink-haired man was the first to make a move as he pushed the blond boy off of him and through the doorway and was already reaching over to push the brown-haired man next. He made sure the winged individual made his way in before going in. He looked at Y/n who was still holding the door and adjusted his jaw, a nervous habit it seemed, eyes darting around a bit before he returned his eyes to them and gave a nod of appreciation.

Y/n barley was able to get the door closed after him before they turned around and was assaulted with a hug from the winged man, he was incredibly cold. They hugged the man back, rubbing his back a little as he said many soft thank yous to them, though they watched the other three who stood close and looked around at the bottom portion of their home. The blond boy hugged himself close, shivering and the brunette rubbed his back as he looked around.

They hope they wouldn’t regret not thinking it through before letting a bunch of strange people into their home.

“I truly cannot thank you enough for this. We would have died out there.” The man said as he finally let go of Y/n and studied their face for a moment, looking for words it seemed. “We should introduce ourselves. I’m Phil and the big guy back there is Technoblade. The lanky one is Wilbur and the blond one between them is Tommy. They are my sons.”

Y/n watched them as Phil introduced them, each of them giving them some sort of little greeting when they were called. Whether it was a head nod or a little wave or a smile. They seemed nice.

“One hell of a family..” Y/n mumbled which Phil seemed quite funny and even Wilbur chuckled a bit.

“Oh yeah, but they are my boys.” He said while looking at the three with fondness.

The sweet moment was caught a little short when Technoblade crossed his arms, his body language screaming distrust. He looked down at Y/n and sized them up as he grumbled out a question that sounded more like a command. “What is your name. Who are you.”

“Techno- for god’s sake be a little nicer could ya? Bloody hell, they just saved us.” Wilbur retorted and Technoblade huffed a little growl and looked away. Wilbur gave a short and annoyed sigh, looking back at Y/n as he pulled his hand away from Tommy and instead rested a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. It wasn’t meant to be seen as a threat, but the gesture did make Y/n a bit uneasy as they shuffled back a tad. Instead, he just spoke kindly with an inviting hand gesture.

“What is your name?” He stated and he and Phil looked at them expectantly.

They hesitated for a moment with the eyes on them and cleared their throat, standing taller. “My name is Y/n... it’s nice to meet all of you.” They thought for a moment about what they should say to these people who stood awkwardly, warming up from the cold. “How about I uh… go get some blankets for you all. Blankets and I’ll set up my two spare rooms.” They added as more of a side note to themselves than the group and hurried up the stairs to get things together. 

This was going to be a long night. They can only hope the snow stops soon.

[Chapter Two]

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[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Yancy x Illinois - First Impressions Aren’t Always the Best

I decided to try properly writing Yanois, just to see how I’d manage it. After rewatching Illinois’ scenes, I think he would get on the nerves of the Yancy I write at first.

Word Count 2,122

(Read more because Illinois talks so much...)

-

Happy Trails Penitentiary was renowned for its rehabilitation initiatives. They had a wide variety of classes and visitors to help prisoners. Educational courses, chances to learn new skills, pen pal projects. Many prisoners would never have the opportunity for such experiences, and it was an integral part of helping them prepare for a better life outside of prison when their sentence was finished.

There was one visitor that most prisoners in Yancy’s ‘Gang’ adored. His name was Illinois, a renowned adventurer and archaeologist. Between his job in the university and research trips, he only had time to visit once every few months. It worked in his favour, as those that wanted to visit were able to to hear the various stories that Illinois was more than happy to tell. Not only that, it would encourage the small ‘fan club’ among the younger prisoners.

It was one of the few events that Yancy avoided. Something about Illinois rubbed him the wrong way. He was so arrogant and cocky, acting like the world revolved around him. It wasn’t an act, either. Yancy had spotted Illinois speaking to the Warden on his first visit two years earlier, and he acted the exact same way as he did in the talk that happened that day. After that, Yancy decided he didn’t want anything to do with the adventurer. But if Illinois were to ever become an inmate? Yancy would make sure Illinois had the snot beaten out of him within the first week.

Unfortunately, a lot of the Gang were of the opposite view, especially those around Yancy’s age. To them, Illinois walked straight out of an adventure movie and lived the ideal life. What prisoner didn’t dream of going exploring in uncharted territories? It meant that they would frequently share Illinois’ tales in rec yard when he came to visit. Yancy would roll his eyes, but keep quiet. Let them have their fun.

Today was the day that Illinois visited the prison. It had been over three months since the last visit, so there was an excited buzz among individuals in the Gang. Yancy spent the morning bracing himself. There was a talk after lunch that the others would go to, which would mean the rest of the afternoon and evening would be nothing but historical chatter and “Illinois is so cool!”. He would grumble, but he would keep that to himself. It wasn’t fair to deflate their excitement. He went to the library, found some random book and focused on that for the day. Then, once they had their excitement, it would die down and Yancy could enjoy more casual conversation.

Which was the plan… Until Bam-Bam pleaded for him to go to the last talk of the day. It turned out that his shift clashed with the talk everyone else they knew went to, and he didn’t want to go alone. Begrudgingly, Yancy closed the book, returned it to the shelf, and followed Bam-Bam. A flaw of being a loyal friend was knowing when to swallow your pride and do something you would rather not do.

-

When you go to something with low expectations, it can be incredibly difficult to feel the time was used in a worthwhile manner. Some might have memories of a teacher they hated, or a family gathering they had been dreading. This was a similar position to what Yancy found himself in. One of the ‘classrooms’ had been adjusted slightly to allow various displays to take center stage, with the chairs in neat rows in front of it. Bam-Bam and Yancy claimed two seats at the back, allowing the greaser to slouch in the chair with his arms crossed. Then, once more prisoners had arrived, the talk began.

On and on Illinois went, droning endlessly in that slow drawl. Yancy wished he had a TV remote to speed up the talking a fraction. Was Illinois focused on making sure everyone could understand him, or did he want to prolong the joy of hearing himself talk? It might have been more tolerable if Bam-Bam wasn’t genuinely engrossed in the lecture. They could have made amusing comments throughout. Instead, Yancy was stuck. Sure, history was interesting, but Illinois really drove home the stereotype of boring history teachers. The ‘adventures’ even sounded cliché and fake. Maybe he should have taken the book with him after all...

A painfully slow half hour passed. Once the talk was over, Illinois would literally open the floor to the other prisoners. The chairs would be pushed aside and those that wanted to look at the items Illinois brought were welcome to do so. Yancy was dragged along to view the pieces. Most of the articles were dated to be approximately eight thousand years old. What caught Bam-Bam’s attention was a stone carving that vaguely resembled a cat.

“Ahhh, I see the ‘White Jaguar’ has caught your attention.” Yancy had to repress a shudder at the smooth voice interrupting their own questions back and forth. Illinois stepped over, resting an arm against the perspex container. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she? A miracle we even found her in the first place. She was why I wasn’t able to visit like I said I would last month.” Bam-Bam’s eager question had Illinois chuckle and shake his hand dismissively. “Oh, I’m sure you two gentlemen have much better things to do than hear about how I nearly lost my right hand in my most recent adventure.” When Bam-Bam insisted otherwise, Illinois smirked (and Yancy nearly gagged).

“If you insist. While on our recent dig, I noticed one of the ruins had a floor panel that looked a little different from the rest. It took a little persuasion, but I got that pesky stone up. There, sprawled out before me, was a staircase leading down into the earth. I picked up one of the torches and made my way down. Slowly, I delved deeper into the darkness. One step gave way under me to set off a series of poison-dipped darts, but I was able to dodge them all without breaking a sweat.” Illinois continued, dramatically regaling every single trap that he encountered until he found the White Jaguar. When taking everything around it, he surmised that the owner of the house had been a thief. The jaguar motif was familiar, as he had noticed something similar in a nearby cave that had been repurposed at the time as a sacred spot.

“- Now, this heart of this cave was still guarded by ancient jaguar spirits. They rattled the large statues as I approached, obviously sensing the treasure I carried. In the middle, there was a jaguar’s head carved out of stone. Its jaw was open wide and I couldn’t help but feel as though it was just the right spot for this precious lady. But then, skeletons of what I assume were magic users from an era long gone by pounced and tried to wrestle the statue off me, but I was too fast for them. At last, I reached the carved head, put the White Jaguar in the mouth… and the stone head moved, trapping my arm in a ferocious bite!” He gestured to the cloth wrapped around his right wrist. It was unwrapped just enough to show the healing bite marks. “It had the strength to bite it clean off, but relented when it realised what I had done by offering my arm as blood payment to return -”

“Wait wait wait.” Yancy’s interruption had Bam-Bam elbow him, but it didn’t stop the objection. “That can’t be right. If youse managed to bring this back to where it’s meant to be, why the fuck is it here?”

“An excellent question. This is my recreation of it. I am no thief. I return artefacts to where they belong. Archaeology has a rotten connection with thievery, and I try to rectify the mistakes of my predecessors.”

“So then this entire thing could be bullshit!” Yancy scoffed. “Bam-Bam, this guy just got bitten by someone’s dog and has made this pile of baloney to hide that.”

“Are you accusing me of being a liar?”

“Well, I ain’t calling you a ‘truther’, that’s for sure!”

Yancy was ready for a proper argument. In fact, he was hoping for one. Instead… Illinois laughed, and it wasn’t that typical ‘cocky chuckle’. It was a bright, genuine laugh. He could almost see Bam-Bam go starry-eyed at such a rare moment. Typical Yancy. Getting more attention from Illinois when he wanted to rile him up.

“I suppose it all does sound rather suspicious when you put it that way. Let me show you something.” Illinois gestured for the pair to follow him toward a display of photographs. Instead of pointing to these, he instead reached for his briefcase. A small photo album was pulled out. Yancy noticed that it was dated three months prior. While Illinois flipped through it, both prisoners could see what looked like an area that had been dug up. It matched the pictures in front of them of an excavation site. At last, Illinois found what he was looking for.

“One Guardian Jaguar, complete with the White Jaguar in its mouth. As you can see, the teeth have fresh blood on them. It was an… Oddly tranquil sight, despite the unfortunate situation.”

“So then why act like these are the real deal? People just take youse’s word for it?”

“Normally those that attend my talks know that what I show are my artistic recreations for purely educational purposes. I suppose I do take for granted that those who attend here are invested regulars.” Illinois gave a small shrug. “It’s an easy mistake to forget to remind people who might be new to my talks. I’m sorry if you thought I was a fraud, but I am the real deal. Too good to be true, yet here I am.”

“Yeah yeah, ‘sucks that I’m perfect as shit’, I get it. Least you knows not to make that mistake again.” Yancy rocked back on his heel with the intention of turning and walking away.

“Now now. I can’t let you walk off like that. Take this.” Another item was pulled out of his briefcase. “I made this smaller model of the White Jaguar as a ‘first draft’. I was intending on using it as motivation to my first-year students but… I think it should stay here with you.” Illinois took the opportunity to reach for Yancy’s hand. The small clay model was gently placed in it before Illinois curled Yancy’s fingers over it to keep it in place. His hands stayed where they were as he continued, “We think the White Jaguar was a symbol of good fortune. Perhaps it might bring you some good luck.” He smiled at Yancy, only to have the moment broken by the guard announcing that there were five minutes before the prisoners had to return to their cells for the afternoon count. Yancy took the chance to quickly leave the room without as much as a ‘goodbye’. At least his friend, who introduced himself as Bam-Bam, quickly thanked Illinois before darting out.

A few more questions were asked of him by other prisoners and curious staff; and then it was time to tidy up to bring everything back to the university. It was only when he reached the White Jaguar model did Illinois hesitate. There was something about that abrasive prisoner he couldn’t put his finger on. Was it because he seemed uninterested in the adventurer? Or was there something else? It was a rare moment that Illinois wished he’d had an excuse to chat to the prisoner longer. Maybe not here, but somewhere quieter. Just the two of them.

Huh… Was this what an attraction felt like? He joked about others falling in love with him so often, he wasn’t sure if this was payback for never returning interest in others. He was drawn toward a prisoner that seemed keen to dismiss his hard work and reputation. And worse! Illinois didn’t even know his name!

Then again… A good adventurer always loves the thrill of a mystery. Maybe he could try and find that prisoner next time he visited. Now that the university was open again, he’d be able to drop by more frequently…

--

For what it was worth, Yancy also had a mystery on his hands.

Namely, how to get away from Bam-Bam - who would not SHUT UP about their prolonged conversation with Illinois - and half the gang - who were incredibly jealous Yancy got a gift from the Illinois!

He dropped his head against the chow hall table with a low ‘thunk’. This was the opposite of getting the others to stop talking about Illinois around him!

[docmanda]

14 for some xie lian angst? Pretty please? Bonus points for him being trans

@zlodziej-wlasnej-tozsamosci there we go, I wrote a thing :-) it´s long and tumblr´s layout sucks so have a cut and I will post the link for the fic on AO3 too

Plain Brown Rice

Xie Lian should have known that a hydrangea bush would not be enough to conceal him from Hua Cheng for too long, his husband having developed a sixth sense for finding him by now if he even let him out of his sight at all. It was a testament of his bad luck making a reappearence that he had gotten separated from both of his husbands at the same time but this wedding was a big one after all, hundreds of fox spirits milling around the royal gardens of their Queen in a flurry of silks and fluffy tails, celebrating her Highness´beloved granddaughter´s wedding. And of course Hua Cheng would know immediately that he had been crying too, his happy smile at finding him after they had been seperated by the crowd instantly turning into a frown of worry. "Xie Lian..." Hua Cheng´s cold fingers are soft against his face, wiping away the moisture underneath his eye with the utmost care before kissing his cheek, "my love what happened? Why are you crying?" "Ah it´s nothing...", Hua Cheng´s gaze instantly turns hard and hurt, something that made Xie Lian cry never ´nothing´in his book after all and Xie Lian ducks his head slightly, feeling silly all over. "It really is nothing San Lang...I just, came here to be out of the crowd for a moment and overheard some people talking about us and I..." Xie Lian sighs heavily, closing his eyes as he tries to recount what happened for Hua Cheng. They had gotten seperated in the crowd and he had come here to the edge of the gardens in the hope of catching sight of one of his husbands from the outskirts of the wedding party, standing half hidden behind a luscious hydrangea bush, enjoying the scent of the blooming flowers when someone had started speaking on the other side of it. They clearly hadn´t seen him and Xie Lian was about to come out of his accidential hiding place when he heard his name being mentioned and froze. "That so called Dianxia, what´s his name? Xie something? Xie Lian? How boring...you really have to wonder how someone that useless and plain can manage to catch not one, but two supreme Ghost Kings at once. I mean that Kingdom of his has been gone for centuries now right, leaving nothing but rubble. If he wasn´t the one that chanced upon my sweet little niece and freed her from that trap years ago someone like him would never have been invited to her royal wedding like this, having such terrible ancestry. And they call him the scrap collecting God, whatever that is supposed to be...no proper title to his name, no estate, no power to speak of and on top of that he is as plain as rice, boring and bland." There is a giggle, high pitched and cruel. "No, like day old brown rice, boring and bland and ordinary, just good enough for peasants to eat. And surely nothing even close to good enough for the likes of Black Water and Crimson Rain. I mean that Chengzhu always had weird tastes, have you ever been to that town of his? Shameless I tell you. But you would expect more refinement out of someone like Lord Blackwater, he is a scholar after all with a proper education..and I sure as hell wouldn´t mind -him- waiting in my chambers at night I can tell you that." There´s more voices then hers, giggling slightly and suggesting even more unflattering monikers for Xie Lian, making the first one laugh again. The group had moved a little during their tirade and Xie Lian catches a glimpse of a magnificently made up, beautiful five tailed fox woman, covered in layers and layers of exquisite, translucent silks of all colors, sparkling with pearls and jewels and gold from the tip of her perfectly made up hair to her dainty little silk-clad feet and he suddenly wished he had allowed his husbands to make him up like this too, as much as he hated the confinement all that finery would have brought with it. They had put him into robes just as magnificent as this at first, clearly loving to dress him up in jewels and all kind of trinkets...but when it had been time to actually get ready for the wedding what had been waiting for Xie Lian had been two smiling husbands and a set of expertly made, but thankfully plain white robes instead of the finery. There were small, slightly off-white flowers woven into the hem and his sleeves, the same flower a small boy had gifted him so long ago and He Xuan had put his hair up in a simple bun, the crown they gave him plain silver with three small inlays in mother of pearl: The same small flower in the center, flanked by a fish jumping out of a wave and an intricately carved butterfly. His husband´s robes did match his too, He Xuan´s being his customary black with golden waves flowing along the hem and sleeves and Hua Cheng´s bright red, him forgoing his usual silver jewelry for woven, delicate silver butterflies. ´You looked so uncomfortable in all that fancy stuff we thought you might like this better´ and ´You are so beatiful already A-Lian, all this stuff would just make it harder to get it off later..ouch, what was that for Crimson Rain, you know I´m right stop pinching me..´ And Xie Lian had loved every single part of the outfit they gave him, simple but meaningful to the three of them...but some part of him still wishes he would have gone with the more elaborate robes they had prepared for him. At least he wouldn´t feel just as plain as he apparently was, small and unassuming and the part in him that could never stop to wonder -how- he had actually gotten so lucky to have not one, but two people fall in love with him as thoroughly as his husbands had. It was an old wound, but a deep one that feeling of being unworthy of kindness and affection that still plagued him from time to time and  that neither Hua Cheng nor He Xuan had yet managed to erase completely, no matter how much they showed their love for him. Xie Lian´s voice is small, knowing how -silly- the whole notion is, Hua Cheng and He Xuan -love- him, they show him with everything they do and say, a small crystal clear ring and a single, perfect black pearl around his neck the physical evidence of their adoration...and yet, he simply can´t get rid of that feeling of inadequancy. "They said I was plain...like day old brown rice, ordinary and boring. That I´m not good enough for you." "Who said that?" Crimson Rain Sought Flower´s voice is as sharp as his sabre´s blade, promising quick retribution and a painful death to anybody who dares belittle his one God...and even worse, make him cry. His eye scans the crowd as if he can find the perpetrator by pure will alone, killing intent bubbling up around him, making He Xuan look up in sudden alarm, rudely pushing aside a lady who had been trying to talk to him and immediately walking over, his own aura growing dark around him in answering worry. Xie Lian hastily wipes his eyes, grabbing for his San Lang´s sleeve. "Ah, please San Lang it doesn´t matter, it´s not of importance, I´m just being sensitive today, it´s probably just the wine haha.." Crimson Rain Sought Flower and Black Water Sinking Ships just raise their eyebrows at him, in unison, and it would be funny if both of them weren´t close to murdering a wedding party just because Xie Lian overheard an unhappy thing and couldn´t keep his mouth shut, He Xuan not even knowing what was going on, the sight of Xie Lian in distress enough incentive to follow Crimson Rain´s lead for him. Xie Lian can see the first heads start to turn and look at them. He had been hidden well enough behind his hydrangea bush that nobody saw him cry, but the surging power of the Devastations at his side is hard to cover up in a room full of magic beings...and it doesn´t need a proficient magic user for their displeasure and aggression being obvious. "Please my loves...I know you only want to protect me but it is their -wedding- , don´t ruin it because a single person in a hundred said an unkind thing.." It takes another second of suspense before Hua Cheng sighs and pulls him close with one arm, pressing a kiss into the soft hair on Xie Lian´s temple before resting his chin on Xie Lian´s head, not caring that anybody can see their display of affection. Neither does He Xuan when he leans in close for a kiss of his own, cold fingers slipping between Xie Lian´s warm ones. "Alright gege, but just because it is you asking...but we will be having a very serious talk about that whole "I am not good enough for you"-thing later." He Xuan twitches and his scandalized ´Who said that?´ exactly mirroring what Hua Cheng had exclaimed earlier would be funny too if it didn´t bring another spike of killing intent with it. This time it is Hua Cheng though who grabs for his sleeve keeping the other Devastation from doing something rash, like summoning his dragons in the middle of a wedding for example. "Calm down Black Water sheesh...Gege overheard someone talk shit about him and had another one of his ´I don´t deserve you´-moments hiding behind a bush." The sarcastic uncertone in his voice ruffles He Xuan´s feathers just enough for his focus to shift from ´100 easy ways to kill effectively and leave the Gods to sort out the innocent´ onto Hua Cheng...and only a long suffering, pleading look from amber colored eyes keeps him from tearing right back into the other Devastation. He is pretty sure that Xie Lian´s ´please don´t ruin the wedding´ includes fighting between him and Crimson Rain too. "..please, behave?" Xie Lian´s voice is tired with an undertone of love, like an overworked mother trying to keep her kids in check and both Devastations smile a little sheepishly, bending down at the same time to kiss him on the cheek, one side for each Devastation, finally getting a small giggle at their ridiculousness out of Xie Lian. When one of their hosts finally walks over, a young girl, barely into her second tail, clearly sent as a deliberately non-threatening envoy, carefully eyeing the Devastations at Xie Lian´s side his usual smile is back in his place. "Taizi Dianxia is anything the matter? The noble  Lords seem...distressed? Is there anything not to your liking?" Even at a wedding party full of fox spirits the two Supremes are still the most powerful beings in the room, aside maybe from the bride´s nine tailed, royal grandmother, so it stands to reason that everybody wants to keep them happy...including Xie Lian, who smiles apologetically at the young girl and bows slightly to her. "Ah I apologize. Your fantastic wine is a little too rich for me I fear and I was feeling a little unwell just now, making them worry. Please, don´t pay us any mind, it´s nothing a little fresh air won´t cure and my husband´s favorite hobby is fussing about me so I will be perfectly fine." The fox girl giggles a little at that, clearly relieved that nothing serious had happened and it was just a case of the Prince´s husbands getting worried over nothing. They exchange a few more polite words before she scampers away again, off to report to whoever sent her that nothing terrible was amiss after all. "Look at you Gege, lying without getting red in the face, I am proud of you." Xie Lian swipes at Hua Cheng for that, a soft blush covering his face at the gentle teasing as he grabs for his husband´s hand, dragging him along with He Xuan following them like a very black, protective shadow. "You are terrible, San Lang. And i am hungry, I did have a lot of wine which was probably a bad idea. Lets go find something to eat before all the good things are gone yes?" As usual, Hua Cheng is in favor of anything that makes Xie Lian happy having no objections to that...and He Xuan is always in favor of anything having to do with food anyway. Which is exactly what Xie Lian was planning on, trying to distract them from the anger he can still feel simmering in them. Hua Cheng does finally tell He Xuan what had actually happened, the other Devastation clearly as unhappy about it all as Hua Cheng but a soft pleading look from Xie Lian is enough for the moment for him to let go of it. And that´s where they´re staying for most of the night, close to the lavish spread of food arranged on a series of small tables, chatting to a never ending stream of relatives to the royal bride that Xie Lian saved, all wanting to have a look and a chat, at Xie Lian as well as his famous husbands. Mostly the conversations are pleasant, ranging from simply polite to heated discussions of some form of obscure poetry between the bride´s granduncle on her father´s side and He Xuan, who nearly stabs the poor old fox in the face with a half eaten bit of pastry forgotten in his hand when he tries to emphasize a point. It is testament to how passionate they are about that topic when He Xuan doens´t even so much glance at a laughing Hua Cheng and it needs the help of two more aunts to drag the granduncle away again before things can completely deteriorate. They finally managed to catch a moment of the bride´s time, silently chatting with her and her newly wedded husband when Xie Lian suddenly grows tense against Hua Cheng´s arm. And it doens´t take a genius to guess that the reason for this must be the new group of three who just joined their little conversation circle, a lavishly dressed and decorated five tailed lady -probably an older female relative of some kind to their bride- shadowed by what are probably her younger sisters. Hua Cheng´s brows draw together in a frown, his arm tightening around Xie Lian´s waist...until a sharp small tug at the back of his tunic brings him back to his senses. Xie Lian is slightly pale around his nose, softly shaking his head ´no´and thus confirming what Hua Cheng had suspected from the start: that these were the ones who had made Xie Lian uncomfortable enough to hide himself and cry. He Xuan seems to have noticed nothing wrong, still casually eating while pretending to be disinterested in whatever kind of topic the three of them were currently discussing with a slightly uncomfortably smiling bride...but Hua Cheng can see his golden eyes grow sharp as daggers, never letting the fox woman out of his sight. "..I just think this particular cut is so much more suited to bring out a lady´s advantages properly don´t you think? You are such a pretty thing you really should not be wearing such old fashioned rags...but don´t take my word for it then, let´s ask someone else.." She turns to He Xuan with a flourish, eyeing him in a way that makes it very clear that, while he was in fact very well dressed, she would vastly prefer him to be wearing nothing at all. "My Lord Black Water. You clearly are someone who has impeccable taste in fashion...what do you think about this new style of robe I am wearing?" Black Water finally looks up from his bowl, having been directly adressed after all, while the fox woman does a little twirl for him, very unsubtly showing off the way the fabric is draped around her full soft bossom, emphasizing her tiny waist and delicate throat to the fullest. Xie Lian can feel something in his throat constrict painfully at the display-plain, like day old brown rice indeed- gently pulling on Hua Cheng´s hand to please get him out of there when... "Vulgar." And then He Xuan turns back to his bowl, clearly done with the conversation and the flabbergasted woman in front of him paying her no mind at all anymore. Xie Lian is so surprised he has to quickly hide a smile behind a fake cough, while Hua Cheng can´t be bothered to conceal his laughter, not in the very least concerned about the cruelty of it. After all that bitch in front of them deserved that and a lot of things more, she should be happy that He Xuan was still on his best behaviour and didn´t tear into her more then he already had. She gapes at them for a few more minutes before turning around on her heel in a huff, her two sisters following her hastily as she takes her leave. Only when she has left does He Xuan look up from his bowl again, a sharp, satisfied grin showing his white teeth. "Unfortunately for her..," he scoops something up from his bowl with his chopsticks, slipping it into Xie Lian´s mouth and following up with a soft kiss as his husband starts chewing reflexively, "...plain brown rice is our favorite." Hua Cheng laughs at that, placing a kiss into his husbands soft hair before doing the same to He Xuan...and Xie Lian is sure there has never been a single bite of rice sweeter then the one currently in his mouth.

[madllamamomma]

Journey Back to the South~ Part 2. No Smut, but still 18+...Just be smart people. FLUFF!

[Hey trash pandas! Don’t forget I’m also now on AO3! Under madllamamomma]

Journey Back to the South Part 2~

Muriel gets to his feet as the mysterious woman turns around to the group by the tombstones, “Mo ghaol!! It is Glenna and Artturi’s boy!” Glenna and Artturi… is that..? The others look to themselves confused but the tall man comes barreling down the hill with a wide smile.

You can’t help but stare up at the tall man, his features are undeniable. You gasp and tug at Muriel’s arm directing his attention to him. “Muri, look!!”

Muriel jumps a little as the man approaches, even he has to look up at the man…And I thought Muriel was the tallest man I have ever seen.Despite his short beard, his longer silvery and black hair, and his age, he scarily resembles Muriel. “Can it be? —Una, is it really him?”

Una. That must be the woman’s name.

The tall man’s voice is booming and deep, just like Muriel’s, but he projects so loudly and clearly, you could probably hear him for miles. He suddenly grabs Muriel by the shoulders and stares deeply at him making Muriel tense and incredibly uncomfortable, but he doesn’t attempt to pull away. The man’s gaze softens, and a smile takes over his mouth. “HA!! Mo bhrathair!!!...” The man lets out a huge belly laugh, then swings his arms around Muriel’s chest and arms, giving him a massive bear hug, he even lifted his feet off the ground, literally taking Muriel’s breath away. “...It is you, my brother!! It has to be!!”

You just gawk at the scene, trying to not let your mouth drop to the ground. This…. this is alarmingly new…It’s like watching two mountains embrace one another.

“Br—brother?!” Muriel manages to spit out the words as he fills his lungs back with air.

The man sets him back down, returning his hands firmly on his shoulders. His energy is intoxicatingly jolly, welcoming and warm, “I am your cousin! Your father was my kin!” He slaps Muriel’s back affectionately, taking him by surprise and making him stumble forward a little. Holy shit! Muriel was pushed off balance?

“Mo ghaol!” The woman tugs at the tall man’s sleeve, shooting him a scolding look. “We just got him back, don't scare the poor cub off!!”

The man scratches the back of his head still sporting a huge grin on his lips. “Sorry, my moonlight! But just look at him!!! Doesn’t he look just like Artturi??” So much is happening currently, the both of you are a bit dazed and lost for words. The tall man sees both your blank expressions and shakes his head. “—Oh right, right, right, right—introductions!” He takes in a large inhale, puffs out his large chest, then slams his fist into it, “I am Gilbert! The Master Speaker! Teller of tales, Keeper of history!” He grabs the woman’s waist tenderly, tugging her into his body much like Muriel does to you. He looks down at her face sweetly, bending over and placing his chin on top of her head. “This, wonderful, beautiful vision, is the love of my life, Una.”

“Oh stop it, Berty!” She smirks and playfully smacks his large arm.

Muriel flutters his eyes in astonishment. “You… you knew my parents?”

“Knew them? Artturi was my best friend! We grew up together! He was like my brother! He even introduced Una and I. We are your kin, my boy!!” Gilbert chuckles with his loud hearty deep voice.

“K—Kin?” Muriel looks at you searching for what to do or say next, still looking like he’s unable to comprehend what is going on.

You grab his hand and you feel a smile spread across your lips. “Muriel…. They're your family!”

He blinks rapidly. “I… I have family...left?...” He looks to the ground completely dumbfounded. “—I-I thought everyone died years ago in the fight with the Scourge...”

“Do we look dead to you, son??” Gilbert laughs pointing to the other people next to the tombstones, still confused looking. “We maybe few, but we are still alive!”

"I... I have family...left." Muriel murmurs to himself, slowly somewhat grasping the concept.

Una finally notices you, with wide eyes. “Lets not forget our other guest!” She smiles tilting her head slightly. “....And who is this lovely creature, Muriel?”

You step forward beside Muriel, “I’m Rhemi.” You grab his hand tightly and he squeezes back, he’s still dazed from all this excitement, but you feel him slowly becoming grounded with your touch.

Muriel shakes his head and starts to slightly flounder. “—She my—my…. ummm…ahhh...” He even seemed to have forgotten what you are. He’s so cute.

Gilbert chuckles as he watches Muriel turn a few different shades of red. “She's your ‘umm, ahhh’,eh??” Muriel suddenly holds his breath looking a little flustered.

You smile then pat poor Muriel on the arm. “—I’m his fiancee.” Answer for him, then he relaxes and starts to breathe again.

Una tuts then elbows Gilbert’s side as he laughs to himself, taking pity on Muriel. “Ohh! Stop teasing the poor cub, Berty!”

Una grabs your free hand and tugs you away from Muriel’s side. “You’re his betrothed, eh? Let old Una take a good look at you.” She starts to inspect you all over. “Hmm….very strong aura… With that shield you made, you're clearly a magic user, but you're a magicianif I’m not mistaken.” You nod with a wry smile. She runs her fingers through your loose ponytail, feeling the small wavy curls, nodding to herself. “Good genes...” she whispers.

She swings open the traveling cloak, grabs the wide part of your hips with both of her hands. You let out a confused low, “Ahhhhh…”.Your arms awkwardly hover over her’s, unsure what to do with them, then starts to shake your hips a little making you blush crazily. She smiles and looks up at Muriel who is very confused of what she is doing as you are. “Sturdy, thick Pelvis,” Una turns you around and lifts your traveling cloak. You feel her eyeing your ass, a chill runs down your spine, making you yelp a squeak uncontrollably. “...good for childbirth.” She glances up at him and winks, “Kokhurians need a good pair of sturdy hips on top of them.”, making Muriel suddenly shudder, becoming flushed and speechless. You whip yourself around swiftly pulling your traveling cloak tightly around your body, trying to hide yourself. Slightly feeling like an animal being inspected for slaughter for a royal holiday feast. She chuckles a bit at your sudden shyness and Muriel's reactions.

Una’s smile falls then looks very seriously at you. Her hands hold your face and she starts to stare deeply into your eyes, squinting as if she’s searching for something behind them. Her green eyes are slightly darker, but are full of wisdom and warmth, you can’t help but relax a bit. She softens her gaze and then lightly presses her forehead to yours closing her eyes, feeling a little magic in her hands again. “Ah… yes, yes, yes…” You keep your eyes open but glance down to the ground unsure what to do. “Yes….. one who came from ashes.” She loudly whispers, pulling away from your face, then starts to lightly stroke your cheek with her thumb. Very motheringly gazing at you and a wide tender smile takes over her mouth.

You flutter your eyes, completely shocked at her words. How—how did she know that?! How could she?? Is she some kind of psychometric or something? Again that’s objects, not people!She lets go and looks up to Muriel, still shaken from her talking about your wide hips. “Hmm…A strong one indeed! She will make a fine wife, Muriel!” Una pats his arm. And once she is done, Muriel grabs your waist and pulls you in close to him. Trying to shield you from any other odd inspections of any kind.

You are however still completely shocked. She couldn’t possibly just know that you came back to life. So what does she mean you came from ashes... “How—how did you—?”

“—Papa!!! Momma!! Who are these people?” One of the women yell, holding a baby, cutting you off from your question.

“Ah!! yes!! Come, come! We must introduce you to everyone!” Gilbert wraps his arm around Muriel, grabbing him by his opposite shoulder tugging him along. Muriel is still so shocked he’s unaware what to do. He’s never had something like this happen before- neither of you had. Una threads her arm around yours. You and Muriel both exchange wry glances, then you shrug. Looks like you both don’t have a choice.

Meeting a crowd of people always makes Muriel a bit on edge, but it was strange. They all took him in like they already knew him, making him already relax a bit. Being around them all felt… good. (Well… that is most of them made you feel welcomed).

Turns out the two people who attacked you and Muriel were both Una and Gilbert’s children. In fact the entire crowd was all their children! Together they had eleven kids, and a baby, twelve in total.

The ones that stuck out were the first born, a pair of identical twins, Ava and Shona, a bit younger but around their 20s. They’re tall…. about Julian’s height (maybe a little taller), but seeing their father doesn't surprise you at all. The two may be twins, but other than their faces and their dark brownish-black hair color, they couldn’t be more different:

Ava (one of the attackers) has shorter hair they wore down, shaved on the sides, and a septum piercing. They are very muscular, strong, rather intimidating. Most definitely a trained fighter. They wore a thick fur cloak like poncho over their shoulders, a dark blue scarf tightly wrapped around their neck, and wore dark leather pants, and a thick, lighter blue long sleeved shirt underneath, making them nimble and ready to fight at any time. They were dead quiet, never spoke a word. But they used their hands and face expressions while looking at their sister. ...Maybe they can’t talk. Deaf perhaps?

Shona has long flowing hair loosely braided in the back with a pink ribbon. She’s rather pretty. She has tassel earrings and a little headpiece across her forehead like Una and Khamagali did and wore a long parka lined with fur, but without a hood. She had a nose ring in her left nostril and she was much more feminine. She didn’t look like she fought at all. But she was just as intimidating looking as Ava, not just because of her height but because of her piercing judgmental glaring that made you a little uncomfortable. She was holding Una’s baby tightly in her arms.

You hold out your hand to the two of them, but they both look at you like you were an ugly bug. Why do I know this look?....They do however soften their gaze and nod to Muriel. Shona even says, “Welcome, Cousin.” but they both still look wary.

Next was their oldest son named Shawn, (the second attacker) he was around 17 or 18. He looked like a younger, (somewhat) smaller version of Gilbert, his hair a few inches past shoulder length, but it’s pulled back into a ponytail. He was the one that was only a few inches shorter than Muriel. He wore a thick parka like-coat lined with fur to keep warm, long thick leathery pants and a belt around his waist. Despite attacking earlier, he gives you a warm friendly smile and greets Muriel by firmly holding his forearm, out of instinct he does the same. “Cousin! Welcome!” He then gingerly shakes your hand and with his free hand he scratches the back of his head. “...Sorry about attacking you… we have been robbed before—Can’t be too careful, ya know?” He has such a young face, it makes you wonder how Muriel looked at his age.

You return the smile and reassure him. “Don’t worry about it! We did somewhat sneak up on you.”

After Shawn was the second eldest girl, Keavy. She was about 16 and closer to Asra’s height, a few inches below six. She had very long black hair half up in a long fishtail braid, the rest down. She was rather petite framed and cute compared to the twins, much like Una. She also was very warm and inviting. Smiles wide and speaks softly, “Welcome, Rhemi! Welcome Cousin Muriel!” She raises an eyebrow and leans in closer, shielding her mouth with her hand so the others don’t see. “...Don’t pay no mind my sisters. They are always that dreadful!”

You turn away to hide a giggle. “Thank you for welcoming us.” She snickers then pats the top of your hand. She’s so sweet.

Una and Gilbert had seven younger children between the ages of 14 to even 4 years old, most of them were boys. It was hard to remember them all or get their names straight because they were scattering all over the place. How do they keep up with all of them?! But the one that stuck out was one of the youngest, a little girl. Muriel and you noticed her hiding behind Gilbert's leg while everyone was getting to know each other.

“Ida!” Una nags, tuting at her, pulling her away so she couldn’t hide behind her father. “Go on! Say hello to your cousin!” She’s around six, she's so bashful, she pulled her small parka hood over her very red face when being told to introduce herself.

Gilbert huffs, “She is shy... as you can tell…” he laughs a short bark.

Despite Muriel being obviously overwhelmed, he gives a warm smile to her. “It’s ok…. She doesn’t have to say hello if she doesn't want to.”

Inanna suddenly trots over and wuffs at Muriel looking like she is feeling left out. He grunts as he sees her, sounding a bit irritatedly, “... Aren’t you supposed to be with the horses?”

She awwos a little in response and Muriel just rolled his eyes. Inanna takes notice of little Ida and starts to sniff her all over, slowly wagging her tail.

The other children scampered off seeming to be afraid. Inanna nuzzles her face into Ida’s little hood. Her bushy tail starts to wag faster and peppers Ida’s face with wet sloppy kisses. She starts a bit, but slowly lifts her hood, a little smile comes across her face as she gets slobbered by Inanna, and she cutely starts to giggle. Inanna seemed to have taken a quick liking to her. She reminds you a lot of Muriel demeanor. Shy, easily embarrassed, and slow to warm up.

Ida steps forward sheepishly holding onto Inanna’s thick fur. She won’t look Muriel in the eye but she obviously wants to ask him something. He kneels down on one knee petting Inanna’s fur along with her. “Is... is this your wolf?” She finally asked occasionally looking up from her feet. Muriel and you exchanged the same face before he answered her. Oh my god she’s so cute.

Muriel looks back and smiles, “No. She’s my good friend. I don’t own her at all…. if anything she owns me.” Inanna headbutts his hand for a head scratch, still affectionately wagging her tail, tongue hanging out.

“W—what's her name?” Ida’s green eyes light up and are full of wonder as she continues to ask him questions.

“Inanna….Nana for short.”

Ida snuggles her face into Inanna’s chest hugging her and enjoying her soft fur. “Inanna… That’s a nice name. You have a nice name!” She giggles as Inanna licks her face again. She wipes off the slobber and her smile falls, looking down at the ground and twiddling her small thumbs. “...I’m…. I-I-Ida.” She mumbles, then looks at Muriel with her big adorable emerald eyes.

“...Muriel.”

Ida steps a little closer to him and whispers loudly. “Are you really my cousin?”

Muriel just plays along, whispering loudly back. “I… guess I am...”

“Is she my cousin?? She doesn’t look like us at all!” Obviously talking about you. Your heart just feels like it's going to explode. She’s so precious!!!  

Muriel stifles a short laugh, “No… n-not exactly—”

As Muriel and Ida keep chatting, you lean over to Una for a moment. “So what are you all doing here?”

Sadness washes over Una’s face. “We've come early this year to bless the graveyard. Last year we found the protective barrier was broken…. My aunt is no longer her to keep the barrier up.”

Muriel glances up with a somber expression. Letting Ida continue to pet Inanna. “...Khamagalai… she was your Aunt?.... thought she was all alone too.”

Una sighs. “My mother was her twin. That’s why we looked so much alike…. We were close. But once we all started joining distant bands, she refused to leave the graveyard unattended…she said she had to wait for someone.” She walks over to her headstone, placing her fingers gently on the top. It’s covered with various wild flowers and forget-me-nots. “I told her to come with me… I told her… that if she stayed, she would die here.”

“...Are.. are you able to see the future, too?” Muriel asks.

Una shakes her head slowly, “...I have others gifts…Glenna, your mother, she was the one who told me that.” She stares at the headstone, looking a little heart broken. “How did you know Khamgalai?”

Muriel stands beside you and holds your hand tightly. You feel your heart sinking. “She…. she protected us…protected me.” It's hard, but Muriel tell them a summarized version of the trip last time and how you both were on a mission to stop an evil entity from coming into the realm.

Una looks down to the ground thinking expecting her to be more upset, but instead she looks almost relieved. “So—She.. she didn’t die alone here?” Una quickly darts back up to Muriel. “Are...are the ones who buried her? Made the headstone?”

Muriel nods, fighting back the water in his eyes. Una eyes track the grogious carvings of the headstone, wiping a tear away and smiles softly. She walks over to the two of you, then grabs Muriel’s other hand. He tenses for a moment, but relaxes right away as she stares at his large hand for a moment, then looks up with a somber smile. “You did a beautiful job on her headstone, my boy. She’d be very proud.” Gilbert comes and wraps his arms around Una’s shoulders, a proud smile across his lips.

Muriel drops his gaze to the ground, clears his throat, tears still welling in his eyes. He curls in lips pressing them tightly together, and nods his head a little. Squeezing your hand even tighter. You can’t help but have tears too.

The entire crowd is very quiet for about a minute, honoring her sacrifice. Una suddenly shakes her head sniffling, vigorously wiping the tears out her eyes, and clears her throat loudly. “Well… That’s enough of that! We came here to celebrate our loved ones' lives, not sit around and mope about!” Her words quickly knock you and Muriel out of your melancholic mood. She pats the top of his hand and leans in a little closer. “Feel free to visit whoever you need. I’m sure they would be happy you're here. Shona, Keavy and I are going to strengthen the barrier.” She releases his hand and turns towards Keavy and Shona.

Muriel reaches out his hand as Gilbert and Una start to walk away. “—Wait!!... U-Una!” She stops dead in her tracks and turns around, tilting her head as Muriel continues. “—why did you call me here?”

Una looks at him looking lost. “Call you? What do you mean, my child?”

“I… I had dreams. About you...about the Steppe…. but you were a bear…you were singing to me.” Una and Gilbert exchange surprised glances at each other for a moment, then smile widely. Muriel suddenly looks embarrassed again, he was rather quick to share for some reason.

Gilbert throws back his head and starts another large jolly belly laugh. Muriel’s face and chest starts to heat up even more. Gilbert grabs his shoulders again and he uncomfortably jolts, tensing his upper body. He’s definitely not used to having someone taller, and just as strong as him around. “You arejust like Artturi! You have been blessed with his gift, my boy!”

Muriel just looks at him blankly, completely lost. “...Gift?” You utter. Gilbert releases Muriel’s shoulders, Una grabs your wrist and Muriel’s, tugging you along. “There is much to tell you.”

Una, Shona, and Keavy start a ritualistic chant in Rune and the dome over the graveyard shimmers strongly. While they complete it, you and Muriel take some time to place new flowers in his parents' and Khamgalai graves. They too have fresh wild flowers covering it. Una and Gilbert mentioned they were their family, it only makes sense that they lay flowers there too. Muriel takes a moment for himself. Last time he was just hurt when looking at the headstones. This time, it felt more bittersweet. You even catch him mutter, "I'm back..."

After the ritual is completed, they all start to make their way east of the graveyard. Una shouts, “Come! Our camp is not too far this way! Bring your wolf and horses!!”

You both follow behind a bit distantly so yo both could take a moment for yourselves. So much just happened in a short amount of time. At least this time is was good. Muriel's gaze finally meets yours after awhile. “So…This wasn’t exactly what we thought would happen!” You say, breaking the silence.

“...No! Not at all!” Muriel shakes his head in disbelief.

You thoughtly look ahead towards their large party. “Are you... happy?”

He sighs curling his lips tightly into his mouth, looking up into the blue clear sky, thinking hard. “I…. I don’t know what to feel right now.... I—I think I’m happy… but this is all just ....so quick… just a few hours ago I didn’t have kin. And now—half a village of people are calling me their cousin! It’s just…. just…”

“Overwhelming?”

He exhales hard, “…Very.”, then scratches his neck. “...is… is that bad?”

“No! You can’t help how you feel, Love! This is....a lot! It’s shocking! We didn’t even think there was anyone left. It’s a lot to digest all in one morning!”

Muriel smiles a little nodding to himself. “...They even know my parents…..never thought to ask Khamgalai for their names…” He smiles to himself a little. “Artturi and Glenna…” Their names seem to give Muriel a sense of pride and power as he says them out loud. You enjoy this new look on his face.

But one thing is weighing on you, you want to know what Una is exactly. “What did Una show you?” You finally ask.

“M-me….” He blinks rapidly. “..She was…younger…..holding me—Singing that lullaby in whatever language. I looked like I was a toddler. I was wrapped up in the same blanket I had for years as a kid.... It was the only thing I had left of them.” He starts to look so sad when he thinks about it, but shakes it off. "I wonder what language they're speaking in."

“I think they speak a dialect in a language called Rune. It’s ancient—thought to be dead. And she did said she babysat you.”

“....I… I just have so many questions...but I’m also afraid to know.” Muriel looks so torn all of a sudden. “...If they’re answered… will not getting to know my parents just hurt more?”

You loop your free arm around his tightly, looking him dead in the eyes. “It’s ok to feel for them, Muriel. You have the right to know, or not to know... You should do what feels right—What do you want?”

“.... I….. I want to know… what they were like. They seemed like they loved each other endlessly. I know now that they cared a lot about me. I... I apparently look a lot like my father—I never thought about that before….Who I look like.”

“Do you remember their faces?”

“Not really…. I did when I was kid. But… they faded away over time.”

The thought of Muriel and Asra as orphans at the wharf hurts your chest a bit. “I’m sorry, Muriel.”

He snorts and shakes his head. “You shouldn’t be…..Do… do you even remember yourfamily?”

You think about that question for a second before answering. “Before Julian found that necklace with my old will, I didn’t have any clue….. But then I remembered my mother died when I was teenager…. I don’t remember her face... just glimpses. We didn't have any portraits painted or anything either. I still don’t remember anything about my father… if I had one—After that, it’s mostly feelings—I know I apparently the spitting image of her. I think Aunt Athena told me that often. I remember feeling that she was so loving and kind… when she’d hug you, everything bad just melted away.”

He softly laughs through his nose, grinning a little away at the vast tundra. “...Guess you are like her.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” You laugh back looking up at his cute embarrassed face.

He sheepishly scratches the back of his head, cheeks iconically red. “.... when I’m in your arms…. you make me feel like that....like there is no wrong in the world...”

You mirror his blush and you try to hide a stupid smile. Comfortable silence takes hold as you both keep walking, pulling the horses behind. But you finally have to ask. “—Is it weird for you to look up to someone?”

Muriel’s shoulders shake as he lets out a full chuckle. “Yes! Absolutely. It is the strangest feeling…. Feeling shorter! Don't mind it though. It's nice not being the only tall one around."

You both laugh a bit. “Those two have a lot of kids….” You mutter, watching as they somehow caravan them all together.

“I know! How do they keep track of them all?”

“I have no idea. They look like they all look after one another.” You giggle, “Little Ida seemed to like you a lot!”

Muriel smiles even wider. “She’s cute. Nana says she likes her too... Those twins don’t seem to like us though.”

“I have a feeling that it’s methey don’t like… Shawn did say that they were attacked before. Outsiders must be rare.” Muriel looks at you blankly, he’s already forgotten. “... the eldest boy, a few inches shorter than you—That’s Shawn.”

“..I.. I knew that.” He scoffs cutely then sighs, “... just.. lots of new names to remember.”

“Yeah, there are! And don’t worry, I’ve already forgotten about five of six of them.”

You both laugh a little, then laps into a comfortable silence for awhile, watching as the multiple children run and scurry about in front of you both.

—---—---

It look almost an hour to reach their camp. The graveyard was still in view from the camp site, but it was far enough away from out of sight from Khamgalai’s hut. The tents were strange, they were very tall, and circular. They had a variety sprinkled around, some small, some quite big. But one very, very, large one in the middle. It looks like it could fit around fifty people in there.

They also had makeshift pens that appeared to be made off the land. They were equipped with a few horses, sheep, cattle and oxen with very long shaggy hair, the fluffy chickens that you wanted to adopt last time, and last but not least, they had a few.....goats. Motherfucking goats.....One in particular was very off-putting, it was white with yellow eyes and it immediately bleating aggressively as you both walked by. You and Muriel stop for a moment and exchange a very funny look, you both were thinking the same thing. Not another goddamn goat....

From the look of it, people were here off and on for years, perhaps decades. Ava and Shawn guided you both to where the horses were kept. For now you tied them down and kept them packed. There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered. What are they doing here? Where have they been? What are these 'gifts' they are talking about?

Una and Gilbert both coax you to a medium large tent, you let them enter first. Muriel stands there for a moment gazing up at the large tent as if it felt like it looked familiar. “You ok?” You lightly tug in his cloak.

He breathes deeply, closing his eyes. Then lowers his head, and holds your hand again. “I… I think so.”

"Are you ready?" You squeeze back.

He pauses for a moment, then raises an eyebrow. "No....But...When am I ever?”

“Lets go.”

To Be Continued~

Sorry! I didn't like leaving this one short, but I’m still working on the next part. I also made some shitty artwork so you ppl can get a face with with names. There are a lot of new characters, so I felt like that may help with the confusion. 

I should have the next part up here soon, I just need to refine it and what not. As always thank you for reading my hot trash! 

[cruecifymesixx]

Love and Leather /part sixxty one/

Word Count: 5.5k

A/N: So the shitshow begins again, enjoy!

Warnings: language, angst, Vanity trying to run from her problems

Taglist: @brideofdraculana , @xstarryeyes , @aryssav , @miserablecunt , @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol , @fandomshit6000, @anntheboneless,  @venus-calum, @justjodeye, @supernaturalvikingwhore, @are-we-real, @hi-my-name-is-riley, @extremesadnerding, @thatbandchick39, @awkwrdcait, @countrygirlswonderland, @awesomealmostdopestudent  @romanticvengeance , @tashy-bear, @krazykatkay456, @terror-triplet, @shouttatthedevill @beachystars, @rodriguez025, @kickstart-myheart-sixx, @s-outhie, @anxious-diabetic, @awkwardblackgirls, @rockersbox, @brooklyn-antiques, @shamelessobsessions, @jerseytaint, @lilytalebi, @criminalyetminimal, @motley-queen, @trapt-in-a-dream, @lunamadhatter99, @broke-n-bitchy,  @thanks2pete, @slowandangry, @lovesick-heart0, @keepcalm-and-beyou, @miriampraez, @teenwolflover28, @lilyhw1, @swoopygorl, @motherloovebone, @random-internet-user-4471, @falcon-arrows, @talranocchia2001, @wheresmyvodkabitch, @waywardprincess666, @malibubarbievince, @iluvmesomemarvelndc, @zoenicoles, @vamprlestat, @supersoldierballerina, @primal-screamer @electradestiny, @marshbev, @n0-sh0rtage-0f-faults, @cruebaby, @ggorehorror, @valentines-in-london, @miss2001babe, @nassauartist @emmaelizabeth2014, @cmft-jr-winchester, @bokkie92, @notworthyofyou1120 @xrosegoldwolfx, @cranberribread, @lauravic, @mgkobsessed, @chaoticvybe, @kellysimagines @thoughtsoftheantagonist @marvelismylifffe, @sleepyjunhong @lovemythsworld @meetthesixxter @sparxx27 @gingerspicetalks @unknownoblivion @siliwanoel @nevergoodenuffbutokaaayyy @sublimeprincesswasteland @xpoisonousrosesx @love-struck-aries @oskea93 @idumpyourgrass @kaitieskidmore1 @lavendersoundbarrier @minxtruck @i-want-to-shoot-myself @xsixxx @cruesixxlover1991​ @arianareirg​ @fentitrbl​

Nikki sat on the edge of the bed as he stared at the phone on the nightstand. It had been roughly three days since he saw Vanity and fuck, his head has been a complete utter mess. He groaned, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he paced around the hotel room.

“Just fucking call her you idiot.” He mumbled to himself as he quickly grabbed a cigarette and lit it. What’s the worse that could happen? Vanity not pick up? Well to Nikki, that was the worse thing. But actually it was if he called and her boyfriend answered the phone, what would he do then? Or, what if she had given him a fake number and it was actually to a pizza parlor.

“Fuck it.” He grumbled to himself, cigarette hanging off his lip as he sat down on the bed and punched in the numbers. He dreadfully waited for a whole five solid rings:

Hey, it’s Vanity. I can’t come to the phone right because I’m busy or I just don’t want to talk to you. Leave a message, bye!

“Hey Van-Vanity. It’s Nikki, uh Nikki Sixx. I mean, I don’t think you know any other Nikki’s I mean..maybe you do, it’s been a while. Anyways um...hey.” He laughed nervously, “I don’t know what to really uh say to you. Just thought I’d call and see how you were or whatever-“

Clementine listened to the answering machine, deciding if she should answer it and pretend to be her. She cursed Vanity mentally. Van was currently out grocery shopping for dinner while Arianna sat in the next room playing with her barbies.

“...I was gonna ask if you maybe wanted to get some coffee or a drink or maybe something to eat. We-We don’t have too if you don’t want too. But I’m sure you want to talk about some stuff...god this is an embarrassing voicemail...” Nikki laughed again, clearing his throat as he continued, “You look...looked really beautiful the other night but I was too much of a chicken shit to say anything. Uh, anyways if you want to call me back-“

Clementine quickly picked up the phone, taking a deep breath as she clears her throat to do her best impression of Vanity, “Hey Nikki, sorry I almost missed your call I’m cleaning up my place.”

Nikki’s heart stopped beating as he took another quick drag, “Oh..um sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt I can call back later if you want?”

Clementine tried to keep in her laughter, “No, No it’s fine. You said coffee? Are you staying long?”

Nikki rubbed his cheeks, “Yeah coffee or whatever. I’m sure you know a few good places in this city. I’m staying for a few weeks, I thought I mentioned that the other night. I must’ve forgot.”

“I’m staying at the Hilton over off of forty second street. You can come by if you’d like.” Nikki closed his eyes, face palming himself.

Fuckin dumbass! She probably doesn’t want to come over!

“Actually, I know a really great place and that’s my fault I probably forgot you mentioned it. I’m free this weekend.” Clementine spoke, going over to the whiteboard that acted as Arianna’s drawing space on the bottom and reminders for Vanity up top. In all capital letter, with tiny stars surrounding it Clementine wrote ‘Coffee with Nikki’.

Nikki stood up, chewing on his thumbnail as he stared at the wall, “Oh? This weekend? Oh um yeah, that sounds great! I mean, that sounds good. I can pick you up if you’d like?”

Clementine panicked, “Um, how about I just meet you there? I can give you the address.”

Nikki ran around the room, trying to find a pen but all he could find was a black eyeliner pencil in the bathroom, “Okay I’m ready.” He smiles to himself as he wrote it down, “How does ten sound?”

Clementine rolled her eyes, almost on the fit of having a laughing attack, “Ten works for me.” Clem’s eyes went wide as she saw Vanity come through door with a paper bag filled with groceries.

“Alright doll, I’ll see you this weekend.”

“Okay! Bye!”

*Vanity’s POV*

“Who was that?” I asked, setting everything down as I looked at Clementine and how she seemingly hung up the phone pretty damn fast and suspiciously.

Clem smiled, “Oh, uh you have a date at ten Saturday morning with Nikki.” She cheered as I gripped the counter, feeling as if I was about to pass out.

“I-I’m sorry? What?” I asked, needing clarification as she started going through the groceries, “Clementine? What do you mean a date with Nikki?”

She chuckled, “He called and asked you to get some coffee so you two can talk. Those are his words, not mine. I just played the part of you.”

My mouth was agape as I stared, “Clem? What?! I’m not going on a date with Nikki?! Call him back and say you I mean me- fuck! Just say I changed my mind.”

She chuckled, “I feel like Nikki is the kind of guy that doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“Please, I am begging you. Do not make me do this. I don’t want to be stuck talking to him, I don’t want to do it.”

She laughed, “You did it the other night! And invited him to a party! And gave him your number!”

I let out an amused scoff, “I was drunk! And kinda high! That does not count!”

“Vanity, you are going.” Clementines voice was stern alongside her gaze, “You can’t just hide. You need to talk to him. I know your therapist has probably told you already and you’re being stubborn.”

“Mommy, what’s for dinner?” I looked down at Arianna as she smiled up at me. I relaxed and smoothed our her hair, “Tacos babe...and for dessert...maybe I got us cookies to make.”

“That right there is why you need to talk to him.” Clementine said, pointing at Ari as I sighed.

“Are they princess cookies?” Ari asked as I smiled, “I hope double chocolate chip count as princess cookies.”

She seemed to be thinking, “I’ll have to ask Miss sugarpop.” I chuckled as she ran over to one of giraffe stuffed animals, “Okay, she says those are princess cookies.”

I bent down and kissed the top of her head, “I’m glad I was able to serve the magical kingdom...go play.” I nudged her back to the living room.

I glared at Clementine, “I’ll go to coffee with Nikki but it is not a date.” I warned her as she put her hands up.

“Hey, as long as this situation doesn’t explode I’m fine with whatever you want to call it.”

*Saturday Morning*

“Arianna! Did you spill pink kool-aid on my white shirt?!” I yelled from my room as I heard her gasp.

“No!”

I sighed, kid, I swear. I don’t even like your pink kool aid. I like the blue. I groaned, laying down on my bed as almost every garment I owned laid on my bedroom floor. I was having a fashion crisis because I didn’t know what to wear. Do I wear something casual and comfy? Or do I wear something a little more chic and edgy. I groaned, grabbing my pillow as I screamed into it.

My stomach was tied into knots, I could not sleep last night because I am way to nervous to meet up with Nikki. Would it be rude to call and say I can’t make it? It’s only a quarter after nine? I looked back at the clock and started panicking all over again, fuck!

“You good princess?” I looked up, gasping as Tommy was standing in my doorway, “Surprise!” Clementine popped up behind him.

“T! You gotta help me!” I begged him, grabbing his arm and pulling him into my bedroom, “I have no idea what to wear and I’m freaking out and I have to meet Nikki at ten and I don’t even have anything picked out and my hair is still wet and I don’t know what to do!!”

“Well why not these jeans?” He says holding up a pair of light blue ones, I shook my head “They don’t fit me anymore. They’re too loose. None of my clothes fit me!” I whined as they both looked at one another.

“And that is why we don’t abuse cocaine.” Tommy chuckled as I flipped him off.

“Why not a dress?” Clementine questioned as I shook my head, “No, this isn’t a dressy type of date!”

“I thought it wasn’t a date?” Clementine smirked as I stared at her, “Nikki said it was a date.” Tommy butted in.

“You-you talked to him?” I questioned as he nodded, “Uh, duh? He called me in the middle of the night yelling about how I knew this whole time and yadda, yadda, yadda. But he did call it a date.”

I watched as Clementine picked up a pair of black jeans that had rips at the knees and a flowy yellow floral tank top that stopped at my midriff. She threw it on my lap, “Causal, but still cute. You can wear a gold necklace and a pair of sandals. You’re welcome.”

“We’re gonna take Arianna to the park and maybe get some ice cream.” Tommy explained, “Just Incase it takes a while...I know how you two are and I’ve seen this before. You fight, make up, fuck and everything’s happy again. Happens every time.”

“Tommy, he cheated on me.” I pointed out as he giggled, “Okay, a lot more fighting this time around. I’m putting money down right now he’ll use the ‘Doll, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you. Nothings been the same without you.’ Line.” Tommy mocked his voice.

I rolled my eyes, but tried to hide my smile, “No it’s gonna be ‘Princess, I know I’m always apologizing but I truly do mean it.’ I’ll put down extra if he tries to hold my hand while saying it.” Tommy and I both busted up in a fit of laughter.

Clementine stared at us, “Vanity, you have fifteen minutes to get there and traffic is bad right now.” The smile dropped from my face as the impending doom crept back into my system.

“Out! Both of you I need to get dressed!”

I think I set a new record for myself on how fast I got ready. I had to use a belt to keep my pants up. They still fit me but they weren’t as tight as I usually like them to be. The shirt was a tad loose but that’s okay, my tits still filled out the tank top pretty well. My hair was still kinda damp but I didn’t have time to mess with it. I slipped on my sandals before putting a silver band around my thumb. I spritzed on some perfume before checking myself out in the mirror. I turned around to check out my ass, it looked good.

“Okay! I will be back! Ari, please be good for auntie and Tommy.” I bent down as she reached up and gave me a kiss, “Call me if you need anything.” I grabbed my car keys, purse and sunglasses as I started walking to the door.

“Good luck, Van.” Clementine said, “Cause you’re going to need it.” Tommy snickered as Clem quickly slapped him on the arm.

“Thanks for the support, asshole.”

I sat out in front of the coffee shop for a solid five minutes. I was late and it had just turned to ten thirty. I ashed out my cigarette before stepping out of the car. I bent down and looked into the mirror, my make up still looked great. I ran my nails through my hair as I locked the car and headed inside.

The smell of fresh pastries and coffee hit my nose, when was the last time I ate? Maybe I should cut back on the blow...

I glanced around the coffee shop and I didn’t see him anywhere. I moved to the side as I was still standing in front of the door. I peered over to the corner tables but they were empty. I felt my stomach drop, was I being stood up? I fucking panicked over nothing! I shook my head, before turning around and smacking right into Nikki’s chest.

“Easy there.” He chuckled, his arm wrapped around my waist to balance me as I quickly pushed him away.

“Sorry...” I muttered as he took off his sunglasses and pushed them to the top of his head, I copied him.

“You’re late.” He tsk’d, “Yeah, well so are you.”

He smiled down at me, “I’ve been here since nine forty five. Stepped outside to have a cigarette while I waited ever so patiently for you.” He confessed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. My eyes wandered down his arms, his whole left arm was covered by ink now and by the style of his shirt, I could tell his chest was now littered in ink too.

“Do you want to keep staring at me or do you want to get something to eat?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow. My face and insides were on fucking fire. I walked away from him and went to the counter, Nikki laughed quietly as he followed me.

“You come here a lot?” I turned around to see him right behind me as I cleared my throat and put some distance between us, “Yeah, with one of my friends. It’s our go to spot.”

I ordered my usual iced vanilla chai latte and a breakfast sandwich. I went to hand the cashier my credit card but Nikki beat me too it and handed his over, “You can also add a large cold brew and uh, one of those breakfast sandwiches she’s having. Please and thank you.”

We went to sit down in a booth by a window. He sat across from me, “You look nice.” I furrowed my eyebrows and looked away from him, glancing around the coffee shop and other customers.

“Thanks...” I mumbled quietly, glancing over at him as he laughed under his breath again, “What’s so funny?” I questioned as he shook his head.

“Nothing doll, it’s nothing.”

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t call me that please.” He tilted his head to the side a bit, chewing on his bottom lip as he looked at me, “What? I’ve always called you that.”

I shrugged, “Well you don’t call me that now. Maybe back then, but not now.”

Nikki’s lips tugged into a smirk before a full blown smile, “Okay V.”

One of the baristas came over with our drinks and sandwiches, she gave us a warm smile before leaving. I immediately started eating my breakfast sandwich, “Hungry much?” Nikki asked as he sipped on his coffee, “Shouldn’t be doing all that blow, V.” His comment caused me to glare at him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He rolled his eyes, an amused grunt rolling off his tongue, “Your little boyfriend is a drug dealer and I’m not an idiot.”

I raised an eyebrow, “I beg to differ.”

He let out a hot breath of air as he slumped back into the booth, wrapping an arm around the back of it. I looked at his left arm again. It was completely covered in little Japanese style characters, cherry blossoms and other flowers. Up by his shoulder was a Cupid type figure and his Mötley tattoo was now colored in, “That’s really cool.” I mumbled, pointing to his arm as he smiled.

“Thanks, it goes up my shoulder and across my chest. My back got worked on too. I’m starting to move down to my legs now. Have you gotten anymore?” I shook my head, “I’m too scared.”

Nikki was older now. Not saying he looked old, but he for sure didn’t have the baby face anymore. His hair was a bit shorter, but still a fucking mess. His eyes were sage colored with hints of gold right now. They were piercing. His jaw was still sharp and had a bit of stubble on it, nothing compared to the patch under his chin. It wasn’t a lot but I could tell he was trying to grow it out. Didn’t picture him to ever stick with the facial hair, I always assumed he liked to be clean cut, a dramatic comparison to everything else in his life.

“You look good.” I said with a shrug, I wasn’t ashamed to say it, it was the truth. He didn’t say anything in return, only gave me a half smile before he started eating his breakfast. The more I looked at him the more I saw his features in Arianna. The eyes, the eyebrow structure, the cheek bones for sure.

“So your job-“ He pulled me from my thoughts as I grabbed my coffee and took a sip, “Are you a stripper too? Or do you just work behind the bar?”

“I’m just a bartender. I’ve only been there a few months but-“ “How long have you been in New York?”

I stared at Nikki when he cut me off, “Was it right away after uh...just how long have you been here in the city?”

I was about to speak but he interrupted me again, “Cause I looked everywhere for you. And, you just vanished like you never existed. I sent a letter to your moms house but it got sent back, did you know that?”

“Why were you looking for me Nikki?” He looked at me like I had asked the worlds dumbest question.

“Because I wanted to fix what I had done.”

I narrowed my eyes at him before looking away, “I didn’t want to fix it Nikki. Don’t you get that? And yes I knew about the letter and all the calls and everything.” I sighed, “I was in Dallas for a little bit but I wound up here. It was far away and I knew nobody.”

He shook his head before angrily grabbing his coffee and taking a sip, “You know Tommy’s girlfriend?”

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

I smiled, “Just from what he’s told me. I haven’t met her yet. He says he’s in love with her.”

Nikki rolled his eyes, “It’s annoying and she mouthed off to me when I met her. I don’t like her. She ain’t good for him.”

I chuckled, “...Because you know what’s good for Tommy?” I rolled my eyes, “Leave him alone. He’s trying to be happy after Heather and this girl makes him happy.”

“Okay V.” I felt his stern glare as I continued eating. I wonder what he was thinking?

*Nikki’s POV*

I have never felt so god damn awkward in my life. I look at her and I feel like I’m some fucking fifteen year old kid that sees the hot eighteen year old babysitter for the first time. I needed a cold shower, I needed to fucking pray to somebody. I needed to have a shot of whiskey. I needed to fucking calm down.

She was bouncing her leg under the table which kept brushing against mine. I mean, I wasn’t going to analyze it, it was probably some unconscious movement. I wasn’t trying to make her upset and was picking and choosing my words very carefully.

I watched as she dug into her purse and grabbed a tube of chapstick and put it on her lips. She let out a gasp, “Oh my god, how is Anarchy? I can’t believe I almost forgot to ask.”

I smiled, “She’s good. She has dog allergies so in the spring time she has to take this special medicine. But other than that, she’s been alright. Still loves her cookies and still barely listens to me.”

Vanity laughed as I felt my heart almost jump out of my chest, “Well now that you know where I am, I can totally take her off your hands. I’ve missed her so much.” 

I scoffed, “Uh, no? She keeps me company and I’m less lonely with her by my side.”

“But she’s my dog.”

“Yeah, and you left.” I watched as she brought her eyebrows together knit tight. I could tell by the way she was clenching her jaw she was keeping whatever smart ass comment inside.

“But maybe we could work out some visitation rights.” Her eyes immediately came to mine, “It was just a suggestion?” I tried laughing as she shook her head and sighed.

“Okay, fuck it.” She said as she dug into her purse and grabbed her wallet.

“Fuck it? Van, it was just a joke. If you really want Anarchy, I’m sure I can figure a way out to bring her to-“ I was caught off guard when I watched her slide a picture across the table to me.

I picked it up and examined it, it was a school picture of a little girl. She had long brown hair but it was done in a ponytail with a pink glittery bow. She had a cute little smile and bright hazel eyes. My eyes flickered over to Vanity as she chewed on her thumb nail, waiting for me to say something. I looked back at the little girl in the photo, my eyes widening as I looked back at Van.

“You have a fucking daughter?!” I yelled loud enough for the others around us to hear me. I stared in disbelief as I looked at the picture again. She was a spitting imagine of Vanity. I furrowed my eyebrows together. I didn’t...I didn’t know what to feel or say.

“Her name is Arianna. She just turned five earlier this month. She’s in preschool and she is so very smart, Nikki. She’ll be in kindergarten in the fall. She’s a sweetheart. She loves to laugh and play and sing. She learns something new every day.” Vanity explained to me as I ran my fingers through my hair. She was a mom now. She was fucking everything she was suppose to be for me.

“Jason? Is he her father?” I questioned but she shook her head and let out a laugh.

“No, he isn’t her father. He tries to play the role of her step dad by bringing her toys and candy and paint but that’s it she likes him only for that reason. Other than that she’s giving him a lot of attitude.”

Smart kid.

I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest as I tried to process all of it, “Is her dad in the picture? You do know who her father is, right?” I knew that was a dumb question by the way she scowled at me.

“Of course I know who her dad is.” I waited for her answer as she stared at me. I watched as she took the last bite of her food before wiping her lip with a napkin.

She sighed, “Nikki, um…so it’s a really funny story actually..” she laughed a bit, “Um, well uh you’re her father.”

I blinked a few times, “I’m sorry? What? What are you talking about? I haven’t…we haven’t. I haven’t slept with you in…in five years?!” My eyes widened as I looked at the picture of her daughter again.

I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. That doesn’t make sense, “You left me. How…what? How do I know you didn’t fuck anyone right after you left? Vanity, I’m not her father.”

“Because I was pregnant. And extremely emotional. The first time I slept with someone Arianna was already a year old.” She spoke rather calmly. How the fuck could she be so calm right now?!?

“So you’re telling me I knocked you up and you just fucking left me?!” I shouted, this time more quietly.

“You’re acting like it’s my fault that I left. And it isn’t.” I glanced at her, hearing the coldness in her voice, “Nikki, I would lie about about this. I know you’re her dad. You were the only guy I was with. You knocked me up and I took a whole bunch of tests. Two were positive and one wasn’t giving me a clear reading. I had a doctors appointment…”

“…You had a doctors appointment and then you came home early and saw us.” I frowned as I finally put the puzzle pieces together.

“And then I left.”

We sat in silence for a moment as I stared off into space. I was a father. I had been trying with Brandi for no god damn reason. I glanced over at Vanity as she was already looking at me. First comes denial and then comes…

“Why the hell wouldn’t you fucking tell me?”

Anger.

“That’s fucked up Vanity. You knew how much I wanted to be a dad. To fucking give you a child. And what? You just fucking hide from the world, hide from me? And hide our daughter too? I’ve missed five fucking years and you don’t think to tell me? What the hell is the matter with you?” I berated her as she shook her head, wiping her cheek as she started crying.

“I didn’t know what to do…” Vanity mumbled quietly as she didn’t dare to look at me.

“Didn’t know what to do? You made a selfish decision. For what fucking reason? Because I cheated on you? That’s a bullshit and rather pathetic reason!”

I watched as she gathered her things and started sliding out of the booth until I put my boot on the leather cushion to block her from leaving, “You leave now and I make a call to my lawyer.” I warned as she stared in disbelief.

“Tell him to get a real paternity suit ready.” I continued as she shook her head, “Nikki, please don’t…” Van begged as she put her purse down.

“You’re letting a god damn drug dealer around my daughter? Who fucking does that? Are you getting high with her at home too? Because I fucking know you were high the other night at the strip club.” I snapped as she didn’t say anything.

“You’re getting high around our child?! Van, what the fuck?!” I rubbed my face, I couldn’t believe the shit I was hearing. I looked at her, seeing her eyes full of tears as she tried to keep it together in front of me.

“Nikki, I am so sorry for not telling you about her. But you have no clue how hurt I was or still am. I had to run. I had to do what was best for me and then eventually her. I was going to tell you eventually…” Her voice was soft as I rolled my eyes.

“Classic Vanity.” I shook my head, “Running across town I could see, but completely moving across the country and having my kid out of what? Spite?” I glared at her as she licked the salt from the corner of her mouth, “You can hate me all you fucking want for what I did. Because trust me V, I hate myself for it. But Jesus Christ. A kid Vanity, we made a kid. And because you were so pissed off at me you had me miss out on everything.”

“Nikki-“ “I could have fucking given you and her everything you needed.”

I felt a ball forming in my gut. It was a mixture of anger and guilt. I knew this wasn’t her fault, as it was mine. I put the ball in motion and she ran with it.

“Sixx, I didn’t know what to do! I was scared, I still am scared. I wanted nothing more to have you by my side through all of it but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t face you, the thought of you disgusted me. I couldn’t do it.”

“I want to meet her.” I demanded as she gawked at me before shaking her head, “No? Okay Vanity. We’ll let our lawyers figure it all out.” I rolled my eyes. How could she just fucking deny me the right to see my child?

“She wouldn’t understand Nikki.” I scoffed at her words, “She wouldn’t understand why mommy and daddy aren’t together when she sees all her friends with both parents. I’m not doing that to her.” She snapped back as I shook my head in disbelief.

“Don’t you think she would like to know who I am? She deserves to know her dad. I’m sure she’s asked already.” I reached for my coffee and took a sip.

“She’s never asked.” Vanity pointed out as I stared at her, “She’s worried about cartoons and toys and the drama going on between her stuffed animals. She isn’t worried about where you are or where’ve you been.”

I groaned, “Vanity, you’re really not gonna let me meet our daughter?” I spoke softly as she exhaled deeply.

“We do it on my terms Nikki. There’s no rushing or anything. If you want, you can start hanging out. I’ll introduce you as Uncle Tommy’s best friend and we’ll start with that.”

I smiled, “She calls him uncle Tommy?” I felt my heart warm up a bit.

She nodded, “Uncle Tommy, Tee-Tee, T-bone. Arianna loves him a lot.”

“Does she have my last name at least?” I didn’t think it was a funny thing to say until she started laughing pretty damn hard.

She wiped away a fake tear, “Oh? You were serious? Uh…no? It’s Arianna Blackwood.”

I frowned, “Right…where is Arianna at now?” I questioned.

“With Tommy.” My eyes widened, “Tommy’s in the city? He didn’t tell me anything.” I groaned, “I swear the band is moving further and further apart.”

“That sucks.” I glanced over at her as she seemed more interested in looking at her nails and picking at the polish.

“Haven’t made anything for a few years now…”

“I know.”

I wondered what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. I decided to shut up and just enjoy the silence between us. The quietness wasn’t awkward like I expected it to be, it was still comfortable to me at least.

I studied her features for a bit. Her little tank top was loose on her and I noticed her clavicle stuck out way more then it ever did before. She wasn’t as tan as I remember her being, she’s more pale. Is it cause of the city? Or was it cause of the drugs she’s been consuming? I noticed she had little cuts and bruises along her arms. Was Jason a little rough with her? I wouldn’t imagine her ever staying with a guy like that. She knows better after everything Julian put her through, or at least she should.

“Are we done?” She pulled me from my thoughts as I looked at her. Vanity’s eyes were a dark brown this time, but still absolutely fucking gorgeous.

“What?”

She chuckled, “I said, are we done? We’re both finished with everything. Unless you wanted to-“

I quickly cut her off, “I am sorry for what I did.”

I saw the natural smile leave her face as she stared at me, “I’m not ready to talk about it.” She mumbled quietly.

“But I am. I am really, truly sorry doll.” I cleared my throat as she held her hands in her lap, “I’ll keep apologizing forever. You just don’t know how much I have missed you. Vanity, I still lo-“

“Don’t!” She shouted as it took me by surprise, “Do not fucking say that.” I watched as she grabbed her purse and quickly slid out of the booth.

Okay, maybe that was too soon.

I followed after her as she went out the door, trying to slam it back in my face as I chased her across the street to her car, “Vanity, please don’t walk away from me. I am trying-“

She quickly turned around and glared at me, “I don’t fucking want you to try, Nikki! I don’t want you to do anything except be a father to Arianna! Now back off!” She warned, putting her hand on my chest as she gave me a slight push.

“Doll, I just-“ “Shut up!” I sighed and stepped away from her as she opened up the car door, but I caught it before she could slam it shut, “When can I meet her?”

She glared at me, “I don’t know! Just leave me alone!” She yelled, trying to close the door but my grip was too strong.

I watched as she had tears running down her cheeks, “Why are you crying?” My tone was soft as I started feeling like shit.

She looked up at me, “Can I please leave? I want to go home.” She sobbed as the only thing I wanted to do was wrap her up in my arms, but I knew that would instantly get me an upper cut to the jaw.

“I’ll call you, okay? And we will do it your way. We’ll figure it out. We always do. We’re Van and Nikki, remember?” I said with a smile as she shook her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

Her gaze found mine, “Van and Nikki don’t exist anymore.”

[queenies-writing]

BakuDeku Merlin Au (Part 2)

(A/n- I am still not done with episode one of Merlin. It is over 7k words holy shit)

Summary- This is a story of young Midoriya Izuku, a simple servant to young Prince Bakugou Katsuki in royal court of UA. They soon became best friends, but Izuku has a secret: he's a mighty sorcerer who has to hide his magical powers even from Katsuki, so that he can stay alive.

Warnings- Camie and Bakugou’s foul language, uh a bit of weapon throwing by our resident blonde hot head.

----------------------

Outside in the courtyard, horses galloped along the stone path way. Their hooves clomped on the stone as a man and a few knights arrived at the entrance of the castle. The sky was dark and the castle was lit up by numerous torches and candles. They decorated the halls and windows of the large castle. The horses were handed off to other knights as a man in a long, golden cape dismounted and was escorted into the large throne room.

It was dimly lit by a few standing candle holders. The large steepled roof gave the room a very grand entrance way as wooden doors opened to let in the singer. As he walked in, his boots clinked against the wooden floor. He made his way over to the end of the room where Queen Mitsuki sat in her very large throne. Two knights stood behind her and to both sides of her were few lords. Camie stood at the front with a soft smile on her face. Behind her stood her handmaid. She was a soft lady with brown hair and bubbly features named Uraraka.

Knights stood at the ready on either side of the throne room. As the man drew nearer, he smiled. He then kneeled at the foot of the throne. “My Liege, it is my honor to be at your call for these events.” “Ah Lord Helen please, it is my honor to host such a great singer such as thee,” Queen Mitsuki rose and went to greet the man. He slowly stood and pressed a kiss to her hand. “How was the ride here, not too eventful I hope?”

“Nope, perfectly safe as it always has been.” He smiled as he stood fully with his hands respectfully positioning themselves at his back. “It just took a bit of time as always.”

“Well it is always worth the wait I suppose.” She smiled back, inclining her head towards the man.

“It will be,” The man said. The ominous tone of the statement went unnoticed by the queen.

----------------------

As the next day dawned, Izuku was awoken by the same voice as the morning before. He sat up, moving his coat that he had used as a blanket the night before, and leaned back against the wall. He sighed while picking out pieces of straw from his hair. The voice continuously said Izuku’s name, causing him to stand and stumble backwards. He frowned as he walked a bit forward towards the sound. It seemed as if it was coming from under the floor.

He got on his knees and pressed his ear to the cold stone flooring, trying to see if he could find the source.

From outside the cell, a voice called out, making Izuku stand back up and brush off the straw that stuck to his clothes. All Might watched from outside the cell as it was unlocked by the knights that stood guard during the night. “You never cease to amaze me how easily you find yourself in trouble young Midoriya,” he said with a tired sigh, stepping forward to grab at Izuku’s shoulders, “You said you would stay out of trouble.”

“I’m sorry,” Izuku said, lowering his head in shame.

“You're lucky,” Toshi said, “I was able to pull a few strings to get you out, but don't let this happen again. I don’t know if I can get you out a second time Izuku. But for this kindness there is a small price to pay.”

Izuku tilted his head, following All Might out. The next thing he knew, he was locked in the stocks. Children threw both rotten and fresh vegetables at him. Many ended up in his hair and all over his face. He could only stand there, unable to leave the stocks.

People gathered around, laughing at Izuku. He sighed and hung his head, resigned to his fate. All Might, as he passed by, laughed as well. He was currently carrying out some of his errands. From the side, Uraraka walked up with a small frown on her face.  She carried a small basket of different materials in her arms. She walked up to the vegetable covered Izuku.

“I’m Uraraka, I’m Lady Camie’s handmaid,” She said with a soft smile.

“I- uh I’m Izuku,” He offered a hand and she shook it, despite the guts of a tomato sticking to it. “Although people just call me Deku now I suppose.”

He chuckled and she did as well. She spoke up after the small laugh, “No no no, I saw what you did. You’re a real hero to that squire back there.”

“Really?” He tilted his head, asking softly.

“Yeah, no one else would have stood up like that to the prince of all people.” She smiled again. “I’m glad you walked away though, you would have never beaten him.”

“Oh I could have beaten him.”

“Really?” She questioned, looking at his frail looking body. “Because you don’t look like one of those big muscly fellows.”

“Uh, thanks?”

She tilted her head before waving her hands in a startled manner. “No! No, I mean I’m sure you're plenty stronger than you look! It’s just, Katsuki’s just this rough, loud and brutish, save-the-world type of man, and well..”

“What?” He asked.

“You don’t look like one of them?” She scratched her neck sheepishly. Izuku tilted his head, looking up at the handmaid. Then he motioned her closer with a small hand wave.

“I’m in disguise,” He whispered.

It drew out a laugh from her and a bright smile. He smiled back as she spoke again, “Well it's good you stood up to him, not many people can brave his brutish nature really.”

“You think so?” He said, laughing a bit.

“Yeah… Katsuki is a bully and everyone thought you were a real hero.” She smiled at him, messing with a bit of her dress before she looked away sheepishly. 

“Oh really?”

She nodded again, smiling at him. He grinned back at her. Behind her, the children have started to run up again with bucket loads of new rotten vegetables. 

“Uh, Uraraka, if you’ll excuse me... my fans are waiting,” He sighed out, awaiting his fate. She laughed as she made her escape, barely dodging the flying tomatoes as they were thrown at Izuku's face.

----------------

Later that afternoon, in the physician's quarters, Izuku and All Might sat at the table to have their lunch. Teasingly Toshinori offered some vegetables with the beef stew which made Izuku chuckle. “I know you're still mad at me.”

“Of course I am, your mother asked me to look after you.” Izuku nodded, looking down at his stew. “What did your mother say about your gifts?”

He smiled a bit at the mention of his mother. “She said that I was special.”

“You are special, special in the likes I have never seen before that's for sure.” All Might chuckled, taking a few bites of his stew.

“What do you mean?” Izuku put his spoon down, looking towards All might.

“Well magic requires incantations, spells and other sorts of outlying measures to make. And you can just conjure it out of thin air. I have never seen that before.” Toshi said, “It takes years to learn what you have done in a matter of minutes. It was basically instinct for you.”

“Well what's the point of having it if I can’t use it?” Izuku said, going back to picking at his stew.

“That I do not know young midoriya...” All Might trailed off, picking up his spoon again to continue eating. “You are a question that has never been posed before Izuku. You are an anomaly.”

“Did you ever study magic? You know so much about it… it just seems like you did?” The green haired sorcery asked, tilting his head.

“Not since Queen Mitsuki banned all magic use twenty years ago.” All Might sighed, looking down at his bowl.

“Why?”

“People used magic for bad deeds during that time. All sorts of chaos was brought to the kingdom because of bad people.” All Might frowned softly. “So the queen made it her personal mission to bring all magic to an end. Even the dragons.”

“What? All of them?”

“There was one dragon that she chose to spare. Made it an example to all magic users that it would not be tolerated.” All Might shrugged, he didn’t really know the exact answer. “Some have said that the dragon is being held below the castle in a cave where no one can find it.” 

They were quiet for a moment. Izuku was processing the information given before going back to eating. Toshinori spoke up again after taking a few bites of his stew, “Once you're done I’ll need you to bring a preparation for Lord Helen. He needs it for his voice.”

With that, they resumed eating. While one's mind was peaceful, the other was full of questions. Izuku just didn’t know who to ask to get them answered.

After walking to the castle, Izuku climbed up the stairs to the guest quarters where Lord Helen was currently staying. He eyed every detail of the castle had to offer as he walked. Big glass stained windows and chandeliers gave off an air of wealth that Izuku could never imagine having. He made his way down a smaller hallway and found the correct room. He knocked on the guest door and opened it quietly when no one answered.

He stepped inside and glanced around the candle lit room. On opposite to him there was a grand bed with two tables on either side of it. On the left wall was a wardrobe, and near the other wall was a vanity table. Strangely though, a cloth covers the majority of the mirror on the vanity table. A cape hung off a chair next to a strange looking hay doll. Izuku walked over to the table and placed the tonic on top of it. He then picked up the hay doll, examining it in his hands. It was a curious thing. It looked like someone had stabbed something in its straw head.

Izuku shrugged, placing the straw doll back on the table. His hand moved to the side a little too much and a piece of cloth fell off of a bound book. Three pearls sat in the middle with different symbols written all over the cover. Different papers were peaking out of the edge of it. This peaked his interest, so he picked it up and turned it over to look at the binding. He wanted to look at what was inside.

He startled slightly, almost dropping the book, when he heard the door down the hall opening. He quickly put everything back where it was before Lord Helen walked through the door. He glanced towards Izuku who stood near the vanity. 

“What are you doing in here?” He questioned, eyes slightly narrowed in a suspicious manner.

“I have- here.” Izuku turned, picking the tonic off the table. “All Might sent this for you.” He handed it over to Lord Helen. The singer took the tonic, still eyeing the boy as Izuku gave a slight bow and headed back out the door he came from. After walking down the hall a bit, Izuku paused a moment and glanced back at the door. An uneasy feeling prodded at the back of his mind.

------------------------------

[kinkymagnus]

Twi YouTube AU?? 👀

dlgjk ok i dont have a coherent au idea i just like the idea of like. 

alec being this confident youtuber man who does all sorts of shit, like funny vlogs and maybe some sketches with his siblings or some lets plays or something, idk, he’s just a popular youtuber like, idk, fuckin markiplier or something, you know, kinda does a lot of stuff. maybe some fashion/interior design shit? idk? but like. he’s pretty popular and if there’s any list on tumblr that’s like “some queer creators you should try watching” he’s always up there because he’s pretty open about being gay. maybe at first he wasn’t in the earlier youtube days but he had a pretty emotional coming out video and everyone was like “holy shit” 

meanwhile magnus is like, a quietly popular youtuber, you know? kind of a niche audience, but with decent numbers. he does a lot of things, like vlogs about being trans. like, oh my god. magnus documenting his transition? would that even be a thing? wait oh my god is this mundane au, or is this canon? because twi magnus who’s actually a warlock with a youtube channel would be hilarious but maybe not a good idea. you know what? how about a mix. he’s mortal and was born in modern times and all, he’s like the same age as alec–idk why but i’m thinking he’s like a few weeks older or a month or two older than alec and alec jokingly teases him about being old–but he like…. still has magic, because why the fuck not. actually, you know what? fuck it? it’s an au where magic is just openly a thing. not even necessarily canonverse magic, just. some people have magic. magnus does little tutorials and shit, he has a real talent for it and he’s actually really powerful but he hides that. (possible plotline: some paparazzi discover he’s like, a level ten mage, and it’s a scale from 1-10 and 8 is the most powerful u get most of the time, there’s been a few really famous 9s and there’s been one 10 ever and that was fucking merlin. you feel. because why not. idek fuck.) anyway he has little diy make your own magical charms and weaving enchantment and safe summoning circles and tips for writing magical contracts and shit like that. he’s this cute little nerd but he’s like incredibly knowledgeable and he knows how to teach it in a way that’s understandable and accessible? and he answers questions in really clear ways, and he does amazing demonstrations that look so cool people accuse him of editing but he’s just That Good. and he’s like, actually a really well-published wizard/magic scientist, he invented the fucking portal, but probably under a pseudonym because he doesn’t really want the attention. (his last name is fell in honor of his mentor. yes. although if he does multiple ones he may or may not also use loss, santiago, rollins, etc.) anyway he’s just so fucking good, he has all these videos explaining magical theory in pretty easy to understand ways (maybe going from really simple to like “i understand the basics here and am ready for the technical terms but need an overview” videos you know. 

also he doesn’t just do magic videos, because i said so. also maybe some blogs, and like. because i want to. some fashion/makeup tips. and it’s weirdly endearing because it’s not something you’d expect since he doesn’t wear makeup that often–although a) there are def gifsets of his full makeup looks on tumblr, and b) when he does occasionally decide to wear lipstick or eyeshadow or whatever, most of his fans are like omg yes!! u look cute! also headcanon: twi magnus wears less makeup in general but he still indulges in nail polish. mostly dark/muted colors on his fingers, but bright silly colors on his toes. NAYWAYWYA

also magnus bane is his chosen name because he wanted something cool and wizardy sounding and undeniably masculine. 

also he’s so fucking sweet like look his videos are pretty popular because they’re just handy but he’s not exactly like, a super popular celebrity or anything, you know? but when he does meet fans he’s so incredibly sweet and he does selfies and he’s very appreciative of his followers? he’s so genuine? 

and alec is way more popular–not that he’s not kind and appreciative of his followers. it’s just the thing is, magnus and alec are totally opposite sides of youtube. alec is friendly charismatic completely non-magical youtuber, he plays video games with his sister and like, does vlogs and reaction videos and shit you know. magnus is out here with educational tutorials and excited rambles about magical theory. (i feel like sometimes he accidentally starts doing groundbreaking research for a video and forgets to like, publish it first, and people are like wait what the fuck holy shit) 

but then they fucking meet. 

and a) they’re Instantly smitten. b) this will eventually result in the weirdest collab ever. 

like NO ONE would expect magnus bane, tarot reader and tutorial on magic diy and shit, occasionally does makeup videos and little vlogs and talks about Issues sometimes, to collab with typical hot vlogger gamer man alec lightwood. but it happens, and somehow it’s the best fucking thing ever.

i’m not sure how their channels collide. maybe alec plays a game involving magic and magnus talks about all the ways it’s right/wrong but it ends up just being bantering and giggling and magnus may or may not end up leaning into him on the couch their sitting on and giggling as he makes a stupid joke with the character in the game and immediately everyone’s like…… we ship it

not that i support irl shipping but u know how it goes, everyones like “damn they’re cute” and they’re both openly queer so there’s that. i mean, still not cool, but you know

but really tho they keep doing collabs after that and become actual friends and both start kind of….. doing things for each other’s channel? magnus does a thing like “interview with someone who knows nothing about magic” and we just see a total mundane take on magic and honestly it’s really interesting for both of them, we have more “magnus, who’s an Old Soul and despite having a youtube channel is actually not that great with technology, raphael does all the editing, tries to play video games and kinda fails at it but he gets the hang of some of them”?? he likes puzzle games and mariokart, he does NOT like super smash bros because “THE CHARACTER NEVER DOES WHAT I WANT IT TO ALEXANDER” “you’re just jealous bc i beat ur ass” “you wanna play mariokart again, lightwood?!” 

magnus does a tarot reading for alec, alec does a vlog with him just like “day in the life of alec lol :P” and there’s moments where he just comes up behind magnus like “hey what’s up” and magnus, who’s in rumpled home clothing, sees the camera and chuckles and kinda half heartedly waves it away, and the audience loses their mind at how cute he looks lkdhjgfh

they just become actual good friends, you know? it’s weird bc you wouldn’t think it would work but it really, really does

also on of alec’s fans at some point tries to make a transphobic crack at magnus during a livestream and alec goes OFF on his ass and it’s trending for the next week, the clip goes viral, it’s like “HIMBO GOES OFF ON HATERS FOR BEING TRANSPHOBIC TO HIS FRIEND/POSSIBLE LOVER?” and alec apologizes to magnus for all the attention it brought them but magnus is like “it’s okay, we can use this” and they end up using the hype to do one of those charity livestreams youtubers do and all the proceeds go to something like mermaids or the trevor project, you feel? they’re like “suck it transphobes look at all this money you got trans ppl” khjfgh

ok but eventually they do get together, not on camera, and while it’s slow at first and kind of secret (from the internet, not from friends and family) they’re also not super subtle. they know they’re not, but they’re just sort of like “it’s no one’s business, we’ll announce it when we’re ready”

and honestly tho they love each other so much

also i’ve just decided it’s not uncommon for strong magic-users, even like, level 4 or 5 and up, to have marks, so while his cat eyes are usually glamoured maybe he showed them after a q&a or in a vlog or something? and there are like. lots of gifsets of this, okay, and like, lots of thirst comments. which are like, this weird mix of slightly uncomfortable, really flattering/validating, and embarrassing (in a good and bad way). anyway, magnus has cat eyes in this au, because i fucking said so.

ANYWAY back to their relationship, they’re in love

how did they meet? maybe at a con they bumped into each other, or a totally random fan was like “y’all should do a collab” and everyone was like “what”

or maybe a mutual friend and fellow youtuber, meliorn, who is a nonbinary youtuber who fucking has a sword don’t question me, introduces them? 

idk. but when they meet they hit it off instantly and flirt and end up getting coffee and they don’t date for a while (maybe mutual pining/misunderstandings like “oh he doesn’t like me like that, but it’s okay, we can still be friends :)” or something lkfgjhfgh) but eventually they end up getting together

how? no idea. let me think about it.

idk why but im thinking they’re filming at magnus’s apartment and they’re on his couch and just. late night. they’ve finished up filming but they’re still bantering and maybe playing some video game like mariokart or watching a movie together and just. magnus is leaned all the way into alec, just snuggled up and pressed close against him, alec ends up putting an arm around him, and alec cracks a joke or teases him and magnus sits up a bit to like, poke his chest or flick his nose (you know what i mean? like in an otp person a shifts, still kinda sitting in their lap, and is like [playfully hits shoulder or boops nose or something] and now they’re making eye contact and person b ends up pulling them into a soft kiss???) anyway THEY MAKE EYE CONTACT AND ALEC PULLS HIM INTO A SOFT KISS and alec almost pulls away when he realizes what he’s done but magnus makes this soft little happy noise and leans into him, kissing back, and they just end up kissing for a bit and when they break apart alec is just looking up at him with breathless wonder and magnus is looking down at him with that same soft reverence and alec blurts out something like “you’re magical” and magnus just loses it and he’s giggling and leaning against alec’s chest and alec starts laughing too and magnus can feel the vibrations in his chest and it’s just so nice and pleasant and wonderful and they may or may not end up making out 

they have to talk about it in the morning when they end up falling asleep together in magnus’s bed, cuddled close, but they find, to both of their delights, they both want to date and be in a serious relationship and it’s so fucking good ok 

they go to dinner and the transition from friendship to romance is a little awkward but so worth it, especially when they realize HEY IT’S BOTH YOU DONT STOP BEING FRIENDS WHEN YOU DATE. i mean like, they didn’t not know that, but it’s like, idk how to explain you know they’re kinda like “are we doing this right” and then they’re like “fuck doing it right we can keep cuddling on the couch and giggling and bantering over stupid shit and watching dumb movies and kicking each others asses in video games it doesn’t matter we just also kiss and have dinner more often and sleep together and also we may or may not be in love” 

also they’re That Couple. they’re like straight to the honeymoon, they’re domestic from the first week. magnus is casually doing magic around the house (imagine: he just dyes his hair on a whim and grows it out a little bit and alec is like “i love u no matter how u style ur hair and stuff, and like, ur usual look is so fuckin cute and handsome, but also I Love This.”) but like he’s like (casually summons small ball of light to read book at night) (casually makes alec little protective charms–side note alec def makes him some of these too, but he asks magnus’s old mentor, ragnor, and two of his friends that can do magic, catarina and dot, to enchant it, since he can’t himself, and having magic woven by people who care about him will make it stronger. oh mhyhogfd) and just like. magic used to be something he mostly kept to himself (this def has something to do with his parents–his mom, who he thinks killed herself because of his eyes/magic, his birth dad who’s a powerful sorcerer–level 9, actually, and they think magnus is level 8 for a long time–who was an abusive fuckstick) and then he started doing youtube and it was a kinda show, a gift, something to share, but still not really something he just used openly in front of people he cared about (other than his close friends, since most of them do magic too anyway) but with alec it’s so easy to do that casually?? it’s so easy to just feel comfortable and safe????? yes

anyway they do eventually “come out” as boyfriends, maybe something short and sweet like just. a tweet of magnus sleeping curled up on alec’s chest and he’s like “god i love my boyfriend

they were already not subtle but now that they’re not hiding it they’re so fucking blatantly in love tbh. they do one of those boyfriend tag videos and it’s fucking adorable, at high request they do some couples games kind of videos, like the newlywed game and fuck marry kill (mostly on alec’s channel but magnus has a few, too) and it’s just HIGH QUALITY FUCKING CONTENT

also originally i was just thinking something along the lines of “in canon verse, twi alec is instagram famous/famous on social media and he gets cute tarot boyfriend and is like look at my cute boyfriend and then magnus’s small insta account mostly for his business gets a fuck ton of new followers and alec’s gets a considerable amount too” and now i’m imagining everyone from their respective audiences first thirst-following the other, then actually getting invested 

but really tho they’re the internet’s hottest couple for a while it’s great

for some reason i’m picturing them doing a live tour now, with like, accessible tickets and magnus does magic live on stage and idek what else they’d do tbh but it’d be fun as fuck

anyway this au got away from me

me: i dont have any real coherent ideas

also me: [vomits a 2,500+ word ESSAY] 

[fyrapartnersearch]

It’s 𝔉𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔰𝔶 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢, y’all.

Well hey there, stranger! My name's Samvs and I'm kind of in the market for a new writing partner or two. Let me save you some time and give you the important deets up front:

⭐ 21+

⭐ M/M

⭐ Multi-Para / Novella

⭐ Modern or Premodern Fantasy/Horror

⭐ Discord and/or Email

⭐️ EST (if that matters? I guess?)

Still with me? Rad~

Like everyone else posting on here, I'm a huge nerd, y'all. I'm absolutely the type to make playlists for every character and universe, to make big ass Pintrest boards for muses and locations and pets (its an excuse to look at dog pics, tho, lets be real,) and I absolutely love sharing stuff like that with my writing partners. That being said, if that's not your style, that's totally fine! I'm absolutely cool with most styles of collaboration!

That's really what roleplaying is about for me - collaboration. I love writing SO MUCH, but I'm not the type of person to write out a whole novel on my own, so I absolutely adore ooc chatter about the plot, the characters, the fucking memes they would send each other, whatever it may be!

I swear I won't chew your ear off all the time, but you're cordially invited to fantasize with me ✨

As for content, I’m pretty open. Yeah, there’s those few taboo subjects that most folk agree not to touch, but violence, sexuality and dark themes are the salt and pepper of literature. Gotta have a little darkness in your paintings according to Bob Ross, and his word is law. I don’t make the rules.

I don’t like fading to black unless the scene feels repetitive, and while I don’t have any specific kinks to insert, I can’t imagine most of my characters (or anyone else, tbh,) being solely into vanilla missionary.

This is the part where I admit I'm probably not going to be a good match for you if you crave daily replies. I also crave daily replies, but I literally cannot manage my life, my chores, my job, my stupid needy cat and everything else WITH as much writing as I'd like to do a day. I'd guess my average rate of response is a day to three, but there are going to certainly be times when I can hit you back much faster.

In short, I might need a little patience, but I'm more than happy to extend the same to you.

Speaking of, I'm also really not the type to be too butthurt if you bail. It's nice to get a message, but I mean, that's really awkward and I FULLY UNDERSTAND being overwhelmed and stepping away from writing for a bit. If you wanna come back, but the fire sort of faded for the story, hey, that's fine! I have about a billion plots to launch your way and as long as we get along, I'll be here when you're ready to work on something new!

On to those plots, though, because that's the good shit, right? Like, that's what we HERE FOR. Below you'll find a list of concepts I already have rolled up fairly tight into almost-plots; they're flexible and destructible and if combinable, so if anything really speaks to you in pieces, we can work with that! I’m a huge fan of larger casts, too, so if you’re here for an expanding universe, then I am too! In most of these, I don't have a preference for role, but in those that do I've bolded the role that I would prefer <b>you</b> to play.

<I> As a heads up, I've been listening to a lot of true crime podcasts lately so you might spot a bit of a theme in some of them lmao</i>

MODERN:

⭐ Journalist x <b>Investigator/Retired Officer </b>:

<i>[A little bit like modern D&D.] A charismatic Tiefling crime journalist meets an experienced investigator through work and talks this delightfully rough subject into a series of in-depth interviews. Though they have very little in common aside from an expansive mental catalog of crime scene photography, they find themselves talking long after the recording stops each time they meet. When the journalist finds himself suddenly embroiled in real danger, and without the benefit of being able to take it to the police, he turns to his newfound friend. What seemed like simple violence is only the tip of the iceberg, though, and it's up to the two of them to do what they can to divert the Titanic.</I>

⭐ Professional Witch x Client:

<I> Magic mingles with the mundane, and like with every other aspect of western life, cash is king. As long as you have money, witching agencies will be happy to help you find a mystic solution for your mostly monotonous worries, whether you need to break a curse... or cast one.</I>

⭐️ Werewolf x Dog Lover:

<I> There’s been a big, strange dog laying in the alleyway beside your house all night, and it’s dumping rain. You can’t just leave the poor pooch out there, right? Maybe he needs a home! </I>

⭐️ Drug Dealer x <b>Cop</b>:

<I> There’s a new party drug on the scene, and it’s making habitual users go feral. Literally. The morphing power of the euphoric powder known as Glimmer isn’t intended, however, and when it’s Fae producer is confronted by an officer on the case of a disappeared partygoer, they realize that there’s more going on here than just a little too much Hoovering. Fae politics and human laws have trapped them in a tight labyrinth that they’ll need each other’s help to navigate and survive.</I>

⭐️ Bonus Concepts:

<I> Fae realms, the intersection of fantasy and politics, odd couples, modern adventuring parties with diverse casts, nonhuman subculture </I>

HISTORICAL/MEDIEVAL:

⭐️ Fae x Adventurer

<I> It’s not every day one stumbles upon a mystic being and survives, and it’s even less common to come out on top. When a wandering adventurer finds a Fae trapped in an iron hunter’s snare in the wilderness, he’s wary to wisdom about setting it free. After cajoling and bargaining and begging, the Fae finally strikes a deal with the mortal; freedom in exchange for a wish. The adventurer can’t make a decision, though, and soon realizes that the Fae can’t leave him until he does, bound by the law of his own magic. Desperate to keep the powerful and beautiful creature with him, he stalls as long as he can. Maybe his wish is just not to be lonesome any longer. </I>

⭐️ Witch x <b>Inquisitor</b>

<I>Most villages have themselves a witch or a cunnung woman, a sage whose strangeness is tolerated in exchange for advice, cures and the promise of peace and prosperity through a little magic when the gods aren’t looking. This village happens to have a cunning fellow, who, perhaps unwisely, takes in a burgled and beaten stranger found on the roadside. It’s not until the unconscious man is already in his home that the witch realized he’s carried back a debilitated inquisitor, a stranger who may bring word of such country practices back to his leaders. Afraid that the burning arm of the church might turn towards his home, the witch has to either hide, show the inquisitor that his people are harmless, or... well, the dead don’t talk, after all, even if that does go against the his vow to defend life. What’s a witch to do? </I>

⭐️ Witch x <b>Fae/Demon</b>

<I> Same inquisition, different witch. Captured by the church and set to burn at the stake, there’s little hope for this one. Resigned to die, the witch is more than surprised when an otherworldly creature offers him a chance at freedom. It comes at a cost: he will be bound to the creature, in body and soul. Depending on his chaotic sponsor’s temperament, that could mean a life of learning deeper magics... or a life of torment and enslavement. A bad life is better than being on fire, though, right?</I>

⭐️ Thief x Warlock

<I> What’s shady, nasty, and might dirk you for a copper piece? Well, it’s both of them, actually. Two adventurers squabble over the prize stored in the city auction house, having both decided to steal it on the same night in unfortunate coincidence. One desires it’s power, the other, it’s weight in gold. Neither realize that they’ve both stumbled into an ancient trap until they split the burden of the curse the artifact truly bears. The curse binds them, and they have no choice but to work together to lift it before it claims their lives. Perhaps fate brought them together... or perhaps it was the wicked call of ancient spirits, begging for release. </I>

⭐️ Bonus Concepts:

<I> Dark magic, pacts and promises, curses, metropolitan adventures and sewer spelunking, social inequality based on fantasy aspects.</I>

It’s a lot of shit, I know. I wrote it. On a <I>phone</I>.

If any of that sounds like your jam and you’re interested in writing with me, then hit me up!

Contact me at <b>transcendthehvnt@gmail.com</b> and we’ll talk it out!

✨

[thegeminisage]

alright im about to watch 5.03 of merlin for the 2nd time ever

because if i dont do it now i may NEVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE

but first i wanna get out of the way that i thought merlin convincing arthur to keep the ban on magic in 5.05 because he was trying to thwart ~*~destiny~*~ or whatever is the laziest writing ever, it’s unsatisfying for the audience, it renders the rest of the last season utterly pointless, it’s unfair to merlin and arthur, and the tonal shift of the show from farting trolls in season 2 to full greek tragedy in season 5 was completely unwarranted and i feel TRICKED as a human person because i expected the end to be bittersweet and make me sad, not table-flipping angry, and i do not at all have high hopes for the finale

but i can ignore something having a “bad last five minutes” i did it for life is strange and final fantasy 13-2 i will do it for merlin but honestly 

speaking on 5.03, after it was over the first time i was like “i can never write my fanfic now because nothing i ever do will be as good as that” but i’m really relieved in that way that that was apparently the last good episode of merlin because now i can continue my work in peace and maybe hopefully even actually finish it

okay commence the liveblog:

love that arthur and merlin are down to just jump off their horses whenever random women start screaming in the distance. season 5 could have been so good, they’re so much more grown up and in sync with one another, i absolutely LOVE their #vibe

it was interesting to me also that arthur DEMANDED a fair trial for this woman despite her being accused of sorcery. god, he was SO CLOSE?? that hatred of magic just can’t really take root in him especially with uther gone...arthur may be an asshole in the early seasons, and he may be quick to anger and quick to lash out in that anger, but it’s just not in him to be cruel, especially needlessly

EVEN THIS LADY IS LIKE “u showed kindness and compassion” arthur is a Good Boy deep down he is he IS he didn’t care a bit about that horn she gave him but still politely said it was beautiful

although lmao the way his face changed when she said it was magic...that’s the STUFF

lowkey losing it at athony head in the credits. i was looking to see if he’d be in the s5 ones since he’s dead and didn’t see him in 5.01 or 5.02 so when i DID see him in 5.03 i was like haha no way did they pay to put him in here i guess i just missed him the first couple of times BUT I WAS WRONG

like, in buffy, they spend an entire episode trying to decide whether or not to necromance their mom or whatever and she doesnt actually APPEAR IN THE EP they never SEE her i thought this would be an episode ABOUT uther i didn’t think uther would be IN it

love that from the get-go arthur’s face screams “i am thinking about making a terrible mistake” and merlin’s face is like “he is thinking about making a terrible mistake”

i’m quite proud of merlin in s5 actually. bad writing aside he uses multiple braincells many times per episode. it’s a vast improvement. same energy as clary from shadowhunters right down to getting shafted in his final season

ive said it before and ill say it again gwen looks SOOO GOOOOD as queen

if this is the anniversary of uther’s death then (if you go by 1 season = 1 year) arthur just turned 30...it’s been nine years and change since merlin met him, and by the end of season 5 it will have been an entire decade

in an otherwise increddibly heavy episode arthur panicking and throwing all the apples out of the bowl so he could cover the horn with it is absolutely priceless. season 5 if nothing else has really hammered home for me what a TERRIBLE liar arthur is - merlin got good at it fast out of necessity but arthur can’t hold a poker face to save his LIFE. “leave it.” “why??” “because i’m telling you to and i’m the king of camelot” buddy......

we were ROBBED. if there had ever been a day where arthur came to accept merlin’s magic but still had to help merlin hide it there could have been an entire episode of arthur nearly blowing merlin’s cover because he’s a nervous nelly and at the end he goes “i cant believe you have had to do this 24/7 for YEARS without a single friend to help you” and merlin goes “well now i have you” anyway.

i love also that repeatedly when arthur goes to do something scary by himself he also brings merlin. they LITERALLY are two halves of a whole

“you’re threatening me with a spoon??” i can’t tell you about the unfortunate fanfics i have seen involving The Spoon. i shall also not mention the ones involving The Glove. we will not speak of it

I CANNOT BELIEVE STONEHENGE IS IIN MERLIN. i got so agitated i did not pay one bit of attention to the conversation following its reveal and me and cathy and had to rewind so i could listen properly

my hate-on for stonehenge goes thusly: stonehenge apocalypse, starring misha collins, is @callowyn‘s favorite movie. i have seen it 45 times. i hate it nearly as much as she loves it. it’s an age-old battle

merlin is so intense when he looks for signs in arthur that he DOESN’T totally hate magic...arthur using magic to see his dad again is one of those signs. he’s willing to turn to it in desperation - maybe he’d be willing in less desperate times too

“my father was taken from me before his time” i mean...he was practically in a coma. so like. he wasn’t

love that when arthur mentions merlins dad ONCE he immediately looks like he’s about to cry. mood. i also want to cry every time i think about merlins dad

up until the moment i laid eyes on uther i was SURE they werent actually gonna do it. i came into this thinking it was a FLASHBACK EP

for the record (and believe me i NEVER thought i’d say this) even though i waited and waited for his demise and cheered when he was gona for good...i really missed uther in season 4. at least with uther you know what you’re getting. agravaine (his replacement as “evil guy who keeps us from being able to solve our problems too easily”) was a slimy cowardly CREEP. and in season 5 i WISH things were as simple as “work around uther’s pigheaded unreasonableness”

for a hot second i really thought uther and arthur would have a nice conversation where they reconciled or said something heartwarming. i was worried about an uther redemption arc - this guy is responsible for the genocide of magic users, he doesn’t deserve redemption - but this show said NOT TODAY and they said it QUICK

WE

ARE

SO

BLESSED

i have A LOT of issues with season 5 but JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THIS WAS DADDY ISSUES 2.0 BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD

repressed trauma returns: harder better faster stronger!! that’s the STUFF

was i not just speaking the other day on my fanfic ask meme about how i love emotionally intense stuff? this is IT babey

uther’s such a bad father! he’s with his only child again for the last time in ever and all he does is tear him a new one! this is why arthur’s such a fucked-up human being (morgana too) 

i’m THRILLED we got to revisit this. his eyes get bigger and bigger and he starts fucking stammering and by the time uther’s done calling him weak and a failure he looks ready to CRY. i was HOLLERING. i still couldnt believe uther was even HERE and not only is he HERE he’s a WRECKING BALL

“this CAN’T be the last time i’ll ever see you” oh buddy you’re gonna wish it was

and he looks back, as he leaves. of COURSE he does. just like lot’s wife. so it goes.

you know how at the end of every supernatural episode sam and dean debrief and talk about their feelings in the car? for merlin and arthur it’s almost always done around a campfire at night - sometimes in arthur’s chambers or other places, but usually out here in the wilderness where it’s just the two of them. i’m...really going to miss it, when it’s gone.

“my father doesn’t approve of the way i’ve chosen to rule his kingdom” “you mean YOUR kingdom”

you know i don’t think i really got...like, fundamentally, on a deep level...that merlin fucking HATES uther

i’ve seen him save uther’s miserable life so many fucking times that i thought for merlin it was kind of the way it was with gwen - he feels nothing for him, but he looks after him for arthur’s sake (or as i came to understand later because he’s professor x about the whole thing)

but the way his expression got SO UGLY when arthur revealed that uther just shit-talked him the entire time...holy fuck

between that & some other stuff that happens later it really paints a clearer picture of like...uther’s dead so merlin doesn't have to hold back anymore and he FUCKING HATES HIM?? like obviously he SHOULD bu i just never SAW it before this. merlin LOATHES him. it’s INCREDIBLE to witness when he bore it so silently for so long. maybe even merlin didn’t realize just how much he hated him until now

and not to get too real here but if youve ever been friends with someone who had an abusive/toxic parent or was in an abusive/toxic relationship and you watch them feeling like shit after and they start making excuses for that asshole like “oh yeah he’s right about x” and you just want to find this horrible person and THROTTLE THEM that emotion is like ALL OVER merlin’s face rn. i didn’t actually seriously "”ship”” merlin and arthur until late season 4/early season 5 (i didnt like dislike it i just wasnt actively bothered by a lack of it) and what changed was this vibe. merlin wants to kill uther all over again just because he made arthur feel this way. he’s so fuckijng PROTECTIVE

and he still almost manages to drag a smile out of him via roasting, god bless these 2

ok so i didnt believe this show would actually DO THAT re: putting uther himself in this ep but i was doubly shocked by the fact that he HITCHED A RIDE AND GOT OUT

me shrieking during this entire poltergeist sequence: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD IT’S REALLY HIM?? HOLY FUCK HE IS LITERALLY HAUNTING ARTHUR I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY’RE DOING THIS I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY’RE GIVING US THIS etc etc etc

actually most of that was probably muffled nonsense because i was yelling with both hands over my mouth

percival’s the realest motherfucker on this whole show. dude survives a murder attempt in which he got an AXE lobbed at him by the fucking GHOST of a power-mad genocidal king and he’s like: yeah idk i guess it fell

there was thunder in the bg for this WHOLE ep and i’m Big into it

absolutely CACKLING at the bit where merlin has to ask arthur if he looked back at uther’s spirit. it’s one of those nice big heavy questions - so heavy, in fact, that arthur can’t answer, can’t even LOOK at merlin, either because he’s ashamed or because he’s bugging out or both. you thought this shit was over? it’s never over! daddy issues are a lifelong ride, pal! arthur’s just get to haunt him literally this time. god it’s so fucking good

can i just say? merlin reads that damning silence reeeal well. and it’s a big, heavy thing to know about arthur - but then again he knows all the big heavy things about arthur

the score for this episode is really good too...very suspenseful and good, adds a lot to the atmosphere, keeps it from getting too slow

there’s a hint of merlin’s absolute HATRED of uther in this conversation again - the way his face tightens when he says “uther would do anything to protect his legacy and that makes him dangerous, who knows what he’s capable of now”

and arthur dismisses him because he can’t hear this but merlin almost refuses to leave - and when he DOES leave, he doesn’t take his eyes off arthur for one fucking second. he stares him down all the way out of the room. i don’t think it’s because he’s angry with arthur, per se - he’s angry with uther, and he knows uther in a way arthur never can or will, as someone ruthless who will kill without warning or remorse. he’s afraid of uther and he’s trying to get arthur to be afraid of uther too before it’s too late and LSDKFJGHSLDFJH

if you’re thinking “thats a lot to interpret from one look” yes it is but i’m right. IT’S A BIG, HEAVY LOOK. NICE AND LOADED. love unpacking all of that

i cant believe this dude tried to KILL GWEN like he really is coming after everything that makes arthur happy. im so glad it was merlin that saved her. i really do think merlin is her best friend

multiple times in this serious arthur fidgets when he’s nervous or thinking, usually with his hands near his mouth. i am endeared to him. my poor boy

“i always knew my father could be cruel but why would he do this to gwen when he knows i love her” BECAUSE HE’S CRUEL

merlin knows. merlin knows his cruelty much better than arthur. boy does he know. i’m dying. it’s fine

love that at this part of the ep we slide seamlessly into the “merlin and arthur are both scared shitless” section which was truly one of my favorite things about the s4 opener. they’re both so fucking jumpy and giving each other shit about being frightened and continuing to be frightened anyway. the DELICIOUS IRONY of arthur finally being scared of uther in the way merlin has been scared of uther for Y E A R S oh my god it’s so GOOD

do also love the entire silent conversation they have when deciding what to do about the door. this is what i mean by their upgraded vibe.l in the early seasons merlin wouldn’t have understood and his lack of understanding would have been played for laughs. now they’re totally in sync

here’s the thing, gaius could have made this magic “able to see uther’s ghost” potion for just arthur and he didn’t. he made it for both of them. everything arthur does merlin does. they’re partners in all things. they’re COMPANIONS. and this is why i finally now Ship It. tragic.

you know this is a kind of weird comparison but late seasons arthur reminds me JUST a bit of gwaine. he complains so much less that he sort of has that same “roll with whatever” vibe to him. pretend to faint so you can steal some guy’s dagger? why not. take this foul potion that may kill us? sure, let’s do it. come what may he’s not really fussed. much more unflappable

until he starts getting spooked again LMFAO 

we do love a good pair of spooked dumbasses. this is charming and entertaining.

leon HAD to know they were lying about poetry. he probably thought they were having.......a tryst,

love also that even in this very dire moment merlin does NOT miss the chance to have some fun at arthur’s expense. that’s true friendship

i got jumpscared three separate times during this ep and one of them was when uther was glaring down merlin and arthur in the hallway after leon left

arthur didn’t jump but he did go hunting after him and to his credit he does not look scared. he looks like a man who is trying to deal with his business and get his shit together

merlin made that FACE again when arthur expressed sadness at hunting his own father because all he ever wanted to DO was make him proud

honestly it’s like since he can’t shit-talk uther he just sings arthur’s praises instead like this here is a guy who is just barely holding his tongue about how fuckin pissed he is. i cant believe it

splitting up was the WORST idea. have they not seen scooby doo??

love that when merlin gets cornered by uther’s ghost and gets scared he yells for arthur and when arthur gets scared because his torch blows out he yells for merlin. you fools, why did you SPLIT UP

uther locks arthur in the room with him, which is already some top tier content, but doubly good? it’s the same room in which arthur nearly ran him through in 2.08. don’t think i didn’t notice. i did notice. i was shrieking into my hands.

seriously this is a pretty calm liveblog but the first time i watched this ep my face was like this the whole time: O O

just kept going “HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK OH MY GOD” over and over. it was greeat

“arthur your fatal flaw is that you put too much trust in other people” do you think arthur, who now has a complex about people betraying him, ever forgot that for one second in his entire life afterward? me neither

speaking of 2.08 arthur dropped some FACTS “your hatred comes from fear” i'm sure they didn’t do it on purpose but #throwbacks

i’m fully experiencing human emotion. “i’m not you, i can’t rule like you did” he’s trying SO HARD to fight his way out of that bullshit

also lmao arthur like “then you’ll have to kill me” and uther like “yeah okay” arthur didn’t KNOW how this man was this could have been SUCH a good awakening

AND NOW IT’S TIME

FOR MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS EPISODE

when i say merlin hates uther. WHEN I SAY MERLIN H A T E S UTHER

HIS LINE HERE. ok. “get away from him, uther. you’ve caused enough harm” he’s furious! he’s GROWLING! 

“you are just a serving boy” “i am much more than that” listen. human words cannot express the emotion that ran through me. when they said “we’re gonna bring back anthony head as uther” i doubted. when they said “he’s gonna be the bad guy and reopen all of arthur’s old wounds” i doubted. when they said “he’s still here LITERALLY haunting arthur who now has to HUNT HIM” I DOUBTED. i didn’t believe they’d do any of it until it was happening on my screen. but ONE LOOK at merlins face made a MOTHERFUCKING BELIEVER out of me. i knew exactly what he was about to do. pretty sure i gasped “NO” in astonishment

AND HE DID THAT

HE👏

DID👏

THAT👏

NOT ONLY. DID I SHRIEK ALOUD. FULL SCREAM. WHEN IT HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME. BUT JUST NOW. WHEN I WATCHED HIM DO IT AGAIN. MORE SCREAMING.

how LONG do you think merlin had ACHED to do that

to show himself to uther for what he was, what he REALLY WAS, someone to be reckoned with instead of someone to be overlookedd, without fear of consequences

i can’t even like

like just imagine the triple rush of 1. satisfaction 2. rage 3. lingering habitual terror

i think at this moment merlin was closer to and more like morgana than he had ever been and maybe ever will be again. because the two of them have so much in common but one thing i didn’t really clock until now is how much they both hate uther

it’s so good. uther is SHOCKED and DISMAYED and this is like merlin’s old fear come back from death too (getting found out by uther) while at the same time being a dream come true (getting to tell uther what he really thinks, who he really is - “i was BORN with it!”) he’s so ANGRY! he is LIVID!)

he’s also really SATISFIED like “even while you were king there was magic at the heart of camelot” GOD how long has he been WAITING for this and not even realized it

and like then uther starts spewing his hateful bullshit and stalking forward with the intent to kill and my guy merlin who should be terrified STANDS HIS MOTHERFUCKING GROUND and says right over him “you’re wrong, you’re wrong” for thirty beautiful seconds merlin really got to be free. i know i will keep comparing things to 2.08 until i die but it’s just like when arthur was almost ready to kill uther in cold blood because for one perfect, brilliant moment he really and truly saw clearly the world as it was. i really love these moments...the strength of their respective convictions is so gratifying

merlin yeeting uther through a door is also gratifying although i have no idea what he hoped to accomplish by following without waking arthur first

i. LOVE. that the camera lingered a little on the spears or whatever after merlin walked by them. nice little foreshadowing moment

THOSE SPEARS GOT AWFULLY CLOSE BUT IM PRETTY SURE UTHER MISSED ON PURPOSE BECAUSE HE WANTED TO TAKE HIS TIME. HIS MISTAKE

okay merlin spent the better part of a lifetime dreading uther’s death sentence and here’s uther stalking down a hallway sword pointed at his chest and certain death is IMMINENT and what does merlin’s face look like?

arthur comes in with the rescue and INSTANTLY his expression changes to?

IT’S BETTER IN MOTION BUT HE LOOKS READY TO CRY

my immediate thought: oh jesus what if uther outs him

i knew he wouldnt bc of spoilers but i would bet a benjamin that that was merlin’s first thought too

tbh. i wish he had.

i kind of wonder if merlin doesn’t wish the same thing. like yes being outed like that is terribly violating and he’s terrified of telling arthur obviously or he would have already but at the same time there would be so much relief once it was finally out. no more secret-keeping. no more burden

i mean, if you go back and watch it, dude’s straight up shaking. he’s trembling all over. he’s losing it. that last teary glance they exchanged.......

uther was two SYLLABLES away from blowing the whole thing

and in a better happier canon where arthur knows and was waiting for merlin to tell him this is like double angst because uther wouldve ben blowing something for them both

i like arthurs followup of realizing that he’ll never be able to please uther (step 1 of breaking away from the cycle of abuse) but for the LIFE OF ME

i will NEVER be able to understand why they segued into this GLOVE THING

i’m not talking about the glove thing

i will say however that by the end of this episode i was so hysterical i had to get up and get water and pace around my kitchen for ten minutes fanning my own face

and that’s it. that’s the second-best episode of merlin and the last good episode there ever was

[ghosty-schnibibit]

finally found time to listen to the first ep of graduation and holy shit!!! i love it so much!!!!! liveblog below ^u^

so i’ve stayed off tumblr for the last five days to avoid any spoilers and damn it was both hard and worth the wait, i am so hype for the rest of this season!!! i think this may be the longest liveblog i’ve ever done so apologies in advance to mobile users if the readmore doesn’t work.

oh dang! starting off with narration!

newa? oh cool we're not in faerun

“a blessing of unicorns” travis i am in love with your world already

loving the spookiness of the place names

trav i love it but this is so much lore so quickly bud i've had to pause to take notes like three times

"and our deaths become all but inevitable" jesus travis

i am so excited, this is going to be so much fun

this music is giving me such dreamworks vibes

AND A CAT :D

SPECTRAL CAT :O

and here's the other three boys!

griffin is getting out years of dm saltiness and i love it

a handsome half elf boy, neat

agro keen! nice name clint

his voice is like griffin put artemis sterling and indrid in a blender

sir fitzroy maplecourt, i love him already

clint no, i am too a ace for this

water genasi, that sounds fun

i cannot wait to see the fanart of this dude, he sounds so pretty

"you had me until the mustashe" same griffy, same

JUSTIN THIS CANNOT BE THE VOICE YOU USE FOR THE WHOLE CAMPAIGN, JUSTIN W H Y

clint started off vaguely crunchy and veered right into ned

this is untenable justin

just throwing this out there, just purely based on the voices, i think fitzroy is my fave so far

oh fun! like caduceus 

"that's an absolute unit!" mood

i need art of this dude so bad

... so the same name you gave the nitpicker lol

GARY THE GARGOYLE

fitzroy you precious baby boy

oh god this is bringing back memories

"what is a bunked bed?" says griffin 'every fantasy world i create contains elevators' mcelroy

"there is no shame in this" what does that mean justin

fitzroy is my sweet boy and i love him so much, my wee aristocratic dipshit

nice! 17 for the first roll of the campaign!

huh, nice! i like this mechanic

clint ilu

you mentioned maps in the ttazz trav, give me the maps

loving the verb usage lol

oh god its hagrid

i'm loving bud more and more each time he talks

"that's groundsy's place" that's where groundsy hides the bodies of students who displease him

ARGO WTF ARE YOU DOING

"both in different ways" dang

barn and battleground side... this sounds fun

does fitzroy want to be a knight? i love this

love the use of the word smooshed

hippocamp? oooooh horse mermaid, fun

BABY :D

nice, that sounds cool as hell

TRAVIS HOW HAVE YOU MADE ME CRY, THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIRST EP AND I'M LITERALLY IN TEARS OVER THIS BABY

y'know what, his voice has grown on me

justin you are crushing this entire scene and i love it

we're already getting some foreshadowing here and i am loving it

oh this music is so choice

YEAAAH first competent woman of the arc! :D

nice, go argo

"oooh, you're sir fitzroy" why does my boy have a reputation already

did my boy get kicked out of the hero tract without knowing it???

is he crying?????

"i had my feelings hurt by a strong man" b a b y  b o y

who's the asshole?

argo my sweet sarcastic boy

oh fun, new npc buddies :D

i'm getting some wicked malfoy vibes from this guy

argo is being a dick but in a very deserved way

travis was not kidding about the sheer volume of npcs, holy shit, i'm only about 45 minutes in and i think that's seven different npcs with names and distinct personalities

oh fun! fantasy wheelchair 0u0

make that ten named npcs

his full name is argonaut, cool!

i am so excited for her holy shit, i need to draw every single pc and npc but i want to draw her the most, i love her so much

fitzroy is a dipshit and i love him

ooooh i get it now, so it's almost more like an acting school, i am digging this setting so much trav

damn that is confident

... are they the only ones clapping?

higglemis is such a mood

justin ilu holy shit

i love leon so much already, he's so soft spoken and sweet

"you would not survive that" fair call lol

griffin no you're going to destroy me with second hand embarrassment

what are you doing fitzroy my dumb dumb boy

"i'm in heck" g r i f f i n

oh my sweet summer child. oh my poor baby :(

yes, what is your class my sweet failure boy

so he's a wizard boy, love it

thank you for trying bud ilu

f i t z r o y  2

druid boy!

rouge buddies :D

so we've got a druid, a wizard, and a rouge, nice balance, a little heavy to magic users but so was balance lol

... i am terrified to know what this squirrel thing is

never mind that is actually freakin adorable, and i love her so much

oh goody malfoy's back

... it's hazing. he's going to haze them.

trav’s doing a really good job of giving npcs with similar pitches of voice different cadences to their speech

the fuck griffin

"that would put me right off lemons" a r g o

oh he has a cape... i know i kept thinking of him as a sort of malfoy character but now i can't stop picturing eridan

i am genuinely loving all the hp digs, this is so good

SNEAKERY

oh nice! birdy teacher :D

griffin what owl character are you referring to??????

i love how mundane this is, no joke, it makes it feel really grounded

good to know since they don't really have a healer

they have a dedicated party class, i love this

are they actual skeletons??? holy shit travis i love this so much

he's such a nervous baby, awww

DAMN GRIFFIN NICE

i love how supportive these boys are

how did you manage that trav, dang

HE'S A WHAT GRIFFIN??? I'VE BEEN PICTURING HIM AS A LIL NERD BOY THE WHOLE TIME, HE'S A BARBARIAN????? H O W

"we don't talk about it" i love this

is that a spell? i need to look that up

i love this skeleton friend so much

clint's tradition of naming his weapons continues and i love it

clint what are you d o i n g

NICE! go argo :D

"fuck life lessons!" jesus fitzroy

so it's more of like... a vocational school, size-wise, which aligns with a lot of the background info trav's given us. nice, easy to mentally picture

blame taking???

"you're the one whose magic came and ruined everything!" i am so eager to know this magic barbarian boy's backstory

agro's going for a more errol flynn aesthetic lol

puppy :D

"we feel settled on bud" i just realized this is the second character justin's playing that we don't know the real name of lol

i am so eager to learn what the heck this is and i just know it's going to end in a cliffhanger with only 11 minutes left in the ep

"does a plant cry out? it is plant!" i love this sweet firbolg boy

awww, ranier is a sweety, i love her so much, she's my favorite npc so far

bud’s giving himself some larry bird boots lol

everyone but bud are dumb dumbs lol

this music is so good

i am so intrigued travis holy shit this is so good

a credit to trav, this is the first npc that's made me think of magnus in terms of vocal cadence and tone

oh groundsy

poor fitzroy lmao

I AM SO READY FOR THIS

in conclusion: i am so incredibly hype for the new season!!! i know this ep was mostly setup but i’m already super interested in everyone’s characters and the mystery of whatever’s going on in the spooky forest, and i’m loving the direction travis is taking with the world and how he’s combining the magical with the mundane to make a grounded yet fantastical setting! i can’t wait for the next ep and for all the great things to come this season with everyone ^u^

[sighingstarbeam]

Spies and Gods - Chapter 8

Summary: After falling through a peculiar portal, Reader meets an old "acquaintance" of Loki's.

Word Count: 2,476

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait. Here's a quick recap of what's been going on in my life; I just got done with classes and I'm only working a few days a week, allowing me time to work on fics. Now that Endgame is out I've been thinking about how I want to end the fic and how the story will go at this point, which is what I've been planning on doing since the beginning of the story, which is why I've also been putting off writing until the movie came out (mostly my busy life and motivation got in the way, but still). I have a few ideas in mind for the ending, which I might post two or three different endings if I can't decide which one I want to use. Thanks again for kind words! <3

Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

Your body felt as if it was floating, nothing above or below you, only the feeling of weightlessness. A profusion of emotions swept through you. You’ve only been falling for a short moment but confusion, fear, and even a glimmer of peace filled you. Reality returned when you felt hands grabbing your shoulders followed by you slamming into something, hard.

You heard two thuds, the first being something you couldn’t identify, the second was your own body crashing not too long after. You groaned as the air in your chest struggled to return after it was knocked out. Everything was disoriented at first, until your vision adjusted to the room. You were in a foyer with dark walls, a large staircase in front of you, and seats against the walls that look rarely used. You didn’t recognize this place, meaning you could only fear for the worst.

Before you could do anything else, you heard a coarse groan from beneath you. Looking down you realized you landed on top of Loki, still a bit dazed from the free-fall. Loki was on his back while you landed chest first on top of him, your faces merely inches away from each other. His head was leaned back exposing his tense neck and defined jawline, his hands holding on to your shoulders in a protective grip. He didn’t shield you from the fall, did he? “Shit, you okay?” You asked, letting your weight off of him.

Loki’s gaze met yours, “You did crash into me,” he let out a single chuckle,  “however, nothing is broken as far as I am aware of.”

“Good, because I need you in one piece for you to explain yourself.” A mysterious voice emerged from the stairway. A tall man in an unusual blue outfit accompanied with a red cape was leaning against the railing, eyes staring directly at Loki. “Loki Laufeyson, brother of Thor.” He let go of the railing and floated down the stairs. Great, he’s one of those people. You and Loki stood up, watching as the man levitated down. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he didn’t bother acknowledging your presence and instead went directly to Loki, “What the hell are you doing back on Earth?”

Loki placed his hands behind his back, “With all of your mystical powers, it took you this long to realize I have returned?” He asked coyly.

“I assume your magic had something to do with it,” the man said, “perhaps some sort of cloaking spell so I couldn’t see you.”

“What a shame, it was working so well up until now.” Loki slyly grinned, almost tauntingly.

“And why is that?” The man asked, “Your spell was up for this long, what caused it to drop all of a sudden?”

Loki’s glare at the man was fierce, he was ready to attack at any moment. You should probably step in before things got out of hand. “Excuse me,” you chimed in, gaining the attention of the man and Loki, “what is it that you want with Loki? He’s under official Avengers supervision. I have to get him back before they send an army to search for him.”

The man’s look was on you, eyes squinted as he finally recognized your presence. “As a protector of this realm, it is my job to keep out anything that is a threat to this Earth. Loki is one of those threats. I have warned him and his brother before that if he were ever to return I would handle it personally.” The man looked at Loki, adjusting his yellow gloves, “It’s time to take you back to Asgard.”

Loki’s posture shifted, his eyes expressed mourning. You remembered what the team told you about what happened to Asgard, Loki and Thor’s home. Loki stood frozen, his fists clenched and slightly shaking.

You raised a pleading hand to the man, “Listen, Mister…?”

“Strange, Doctor Strange.”

You knitted your eyebrows at the sound of his name, “Okay. Doctor Strange, something happened to Asgard. That’s the reason why he’s here.” You stepped closer to Loki, almost guarding him from Strange, “He’s been here for a while and you have to trust me when I say that he has had no intentions of hurting anyone.” Loki raised a brow at your statement. Here you were, standing up for the man who terrorized New York. “The Avengers have been keeping a really close eye on him. I don’t think they’ll be really happy if you take Loki away. Especially his brother.”

Strange furrowed his eyes as he held the bridge of his nose. He thought for what seemed like forever, “Who did you say you were?”

“Y/N L/N.”

“Y/N, you need to understand that Loki isn’t a man who can simply be put under house arrest. You do know what he’s capable of, correct?”

“The question is, do you know what I am truly capable of?” Loki stepped forward, knives appearing in both hands. You sighed in annoyance. Great, everything you just said was just thrown right out of the window. He took a few steps in front of you while Strange took a defensive position.

Before he could do any more damage, you stepped directly in front of Loki, blocking his path. “Loki, don’t.” You pleaded, if he was going to get in trouble, might as well prevent Loki from killing anyone.

“Unless you wish to get yourself hurt, move aside.” Loki sneered.

“Really? You’re gonna threaten me?” At this point you were starting to get pissed. Your muscles ached from the fall, all you wanted to do was go back to HQ and take a long bath. “If you want to resort to violence, be my guest. But if this guy kicks your ass, I’m not going to be the one to drag you back. Just know that I’m the only one here that tried to sincerely defend for you.”

Loki’s eyes softened, but his lips were still pursed. His jaw visibly clenched, and in defeat, he put away his knives.

You turned to Strange, “Can we leave now? We have this taken care of.”

Strange looked at you, then to Loki, then back to you before speaking, “Fine. I’ll let you take him back, on one condition. I will have to visit in person once a week to make sure he isn’t using anymore spells to fool me.”

This didn’t please Loki at all. His mood dropped lower than before, anger rising within him. You felt a small amount of sympathy for him, having to be watched all the time now a magic man has to babysit him. Either way, there was no other answer that Strange would like, “Deal. But I have to run it by the team first.”

“Sounds fair.” Strange swept his cape behind him before he lifted his hands in front of him, “I’ll return you both to where you were-”

“No!” You and Loki yelled simultaneously, neither of you wanted to go through Strange’s weird portal again.

Strange looked at you two questionably, “Oh, it won’t be a problem-”

“Thank you, Doctor Strange,” you interjected, “but I think I’ll just call a ride. I might puke if you do that… whatever, again.”

“Fair enough. Would you like some coffee or tea, Y/N?”

“I would love some. Let me call Stark first.” Tony was the closest you could think of that wasn’t busy on a mission like the others. You could’ve called Thor, but you doubted that he knew how to drive or even had a cell phone.

“Stark? As in Tony Stark?”

You took your phone out of your pocket and dialed Tony’s number in, “Yeah. I’m his kid.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that he had children.”

You exhaled, “Neither did he.”

Some time later, Loki settled down (to some degree) while you and Strange had coffee. He showed you around and even introduced his cape to you, which was sentient and somehow not the weirdest thing you’ve encountered after your little portal trip. He explained who the Masters of the Mystic Arts are and what they do, how they protect the Earth for possibly thousands of years. It amazed you that a group of magic users hid in plain sight for this long. You knew groups like Hydra tried to hide in plain sight, but they were never known to be subtle.

You all made your way back to the foyer when you heard knocking at the door. Strange used his magic to open the doors by themselves.

Stark entered followed by Thor, but not in a cheery mood. Stark was wearing one of his finer suits that he usually wore at meetings or press conferences. Shit, you completely forgot that he was in a meeting.

“Loki.” Thor said harshly, eyebrows knit. When Loki saw his brother he immediately looked fearful. He knew the difference when Thor was annoyed or genuinely angered. This was one of those angry times. “What is the meaning of this? You told me you already spoke to Doctor Strange and had everything settled between the two of you.”

“Oh, did I?” Loki taunted, “Might have been a lie, dear brother. Do you really think I would come back to this second rate sorcerer and ask to be among Midgardians? It was much more simple to cast a spell that hid us from his forces.”

“Us? You cloaked me as well?”

“Well, not only you.” Thor raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Think about it, an entire cargo ship with hundreds of Asgardians would not go unnoticed.”

Strange turned to Loki, his temper rising, “I’m sorry, an entire cargo ship filled with what ?!”

Thor went stoic, even with one eye his stare bore deep through Loki, “Brother, what did you do?”

All eyes were on Loki now as he tried to play it cool with a coy smile. Unfortunately for him his trickster charms weren’t working. “Remember on Asgard when Heimdall couldn’t see me arrive or leave when I used the secret passages?” Thor continued his stern gaze, waiting for Loki to continue, “I figured I would do something similar with a simple spell not too long before we arrived… on nearly one hundred Asgardians.”

A sharp inhale went out of Thor’s nostrils. He rubbed his forehead in disbelief, “That’s why you have been different lately. This explains the lack of pranks and your use of magic in front of anyone.”

“You focused all of your magical energy to keep your people hidden.” Strange cut in, “Exactly how long did you expect to hold this spell? Surely not the rest of your life as it would drain you from the inside out.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Of course I wouldn’t go on for that long. For the last month I’ve slowly been letting about a dozen people at a time go from the spell. To anyone like you who can tell the shift in your world, it would merely look like Midgard’s birthrate was slightly higher, but not abnormal.” He looked at Thor, “Did you ever wonder why nobody else has noticed a large ship coming through the atmosphere other than Stark and his little team? And they only knew because we contacted them before entrance.”

The room filled with silence as everyone was trying to process what Loki had done. It didn’t do any harm to the people of Asgard, but to be hidden away and not noticed by the entire world was too far. The Asgardians probably didn’t know Earth didn’t know about them. Here they were, trying to get by with help from only the Avengers when the world could’ve chipped in if they had any idea what was going on. The thought of innocent people under the watch of Earth’s mightiest heroes were struggling to get a hold of their new life when it could easily be fixed bothered you. There are millions of others in the world who need help as well, but this would be a quick start.

“Break the spell now.” You didn’t ask, you demanded. Loki looked at you as if you were some foreign object in the room, “Strange knows. There’s no need for this trick to go on any longer.”

Loki saw the other men silently agree. He knew he didn’t have any say in this. He wanted to say something more, but decided against it. Loki closed his eyes and with a slight clench of his fist, a tiny ripple of gold flowed around his hand. “There. It is done.” He said with a stiff tone.

“Now that that’s taken care of,” Strange pitched in, turning to Tony, “I do trust that the Avengers will keep an extremely close eye on Loki, but I will be making visits to your headquarters every once in a while to make sure he doesn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve.”

Tony was rather annoyed that Strange would show up on his own terms, but reluctantly agreed. Who else would know more about magical fiascos than an actual wizard? “Cool, now we have wizards guarding the castle with the dragon. See you around, Strange. Y/N, Wiseau, car. Now.” Tony spoke to the two of you as if you were children caught breaking a window.

He didn’t look at you as he led everyone outside, revealing a crowd of about a dozen people forming around the highly expensive car. When a few people noticed Tony and Thor, everyone turned and begged for autographs and photos. Tony smiled politely as you all trudged through the crowd, only saying hello and waving to a few people. Thor, on the other hand, took multiple selfies and hugged every other fan like a proper celebrity.

You noticed Loki visibly rolling his eyes at his brother, “Tough being the younger brother?” You asked him.

“Thor’s fame seems to follow him wherever we are.” Loki responded, “The devotees were mild compared to here, but nonetheless the spotlight is brighter in his direction.”

It took longer than intended to reach the car with all these people around. Before entering the car, you heard murmurs coming from the crowd. You made out a few words, which turned to sentences as more and more people talked.

“Who’s that girl?”

“Isn’t that Loki?”

“You don’t think Tony left his fiance for this chick, do you?”

“Maybe she’s Thor’s new girlfriend.”

“No way, Jane was far cooler.”

“Maybe she’s dating Loki.”

“That’s more believable than her and Thor.”

That was enough gossip for one day. You slipped into the back seat of the car, the door muffling the voices of the groupies. Loki sat in the seat next to you, refusing to look anywhere but out the window. Tony and Thor followed soon after, Thor taking the passenger side. Tony slammed the door harshly, then revved the car, speeding away from Bleecker street.

[sonicrainicorn]

Made of Love, Chapter 15

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Table of Contents

Ship(s): Logicality, (platonic) Prinxiety

All Characters: Thomas, Virgil, Roman, Logan, Patton, Dr. Picani, Joan, Talyn, and Deceit

Synopsis: Humans Roman and Virgil get wrapped up in some serious magic business without meaning to. Their other companions aren’t exactly as they seem, either. Together they all must defeat a great threat for the safety of humanity.

Chapter Desc.: Virgil finds out some things that may help out Logan, but it seems too good to be true.

TW: Cursing

Prefer to read it on Ao3? Click here!

Virgil was going to punch something.

Maybe a wall, maybe someone’s face, maybe even the goddamn sun. He felt as if he had to. Logan continued to refuse to tell anyone about his problem, and at this point, Virgil was keeping it a secret just for pleasantries. But that was starting to wear thin. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to tell Patton. It was the right thing to do -- Logan was just being stubborn. And a maniac.

Honestly, he wasn’t fooling anybody. Anyone who knew him would be able to tell that something was up. It wasn’t something easy to pin down, but one could see that he wasn’t the same. Even if they weren’t that familiar with him.

And yet nothing was done about it. The three people in the whole, wide world who knew a thing about it, did absolutely nothing. Thomas and Patton continued to be out of the loop, having questions but never getting answers. It was awful. It brought Virgil closer and closer to his breaking point because this whole thing was just ridiculous.

“We have to do something.” Virgil stopped in front of Roman during a brief break in the busy demand of drinks. The bar was the one place they could talk in private. As ironic as that seemed.

Roman stopped messing with his empty shot glass to look up at Virgil. “About what?”

“About the suicidal maniac at home.”

“Oof. You still on that?” He put his head in his hand. “He’s not gonna change his mind. I think he would have to literally be dying to even consider saying anything.”

Virgil hated how right that was. “We can’t just stand back from it. He’s being a stubborn idiot. Doesn’t that frustrate you?”

“That’s always frustrated me about him. I’d say I’d know that better than anyone, but Patton’s dealt with him for over two hundred years, so.” He gave a half-hearted shrug. “What are we supposed to do about it?”

“I don’t know. Something.”

“You know, you’re really hot when you’re all riled up.”

Virgil scowled. “You make me want to punch your teeth in.”

“That’s kinky.” A lazy grin slid across his face.

He resisted the overwhelming urge to break a glass over Roman’s head. “Stop trying to deflect issues by making innuendos.”

“That’s literally how I got through the entirety of my adolescence.”

The urge was strong, but he couldn’t go through with it. Not in public. “We have to come to some sort of consensus on this. A final decision or something. Literally anything. Because he obviously can’t be trusted with his own life and we’re the only other two people that know.”

Roman dropped his hand. “He’s magic-less, Virge. We can’t just fix that.”

“Then we tell Patton. Or find Altair ourselves.”

“Do you honestly think two humans would be able to find a spooky wizard man when the actual magic users can’t even do it?”

Virgil tried to hold onto that thin thread of confidence, but it fell from his grasp. He deflated with a heavy sigh. “No. But I’m just worried, and frustrated, and --” he let out an aggravated groan -- “I hate keeping secrets. Especially something that’s as big as this.”

“You’re worrying too much. It’s out of our control.”

“But it’s exactly in our control. We can tell Patton at any time.”

Roman paused as if to mull over the words. “Okay. How 'bout this -- the next time we see him glitching out, we tell Patton. We don’t promise him anything, and we don’t let him stop us. Sound good?”

That was a start.

Most of the night passed as it normally did. Roman ended up finding a pen and some napkins to play games with Virgil anytime he wasn’t busy. They played four rounds of tic-tac-toe, more rounds than necessary of dots and boxes, one round of Pictionary, and now they were on hangman. It wasn’t how they normally passed the time together, but it seemed to be waning down the intensity of their previous conversation. So that was a plus. Also, Virgil didn't have alcohol clouding his judgment so he won most of the games. That made things a lot more fun.

Two hours until closing, Jamahl came up to the bar in uncertainty. "Hey, uh, Virgil?” He drummed his fingers against the counter. “There's a guy over there that wants to see you." He motioned over to one of the booths.

Virgil frowned. "Does he have a name?" He didn't see any faces he recognized. The pens in his pockets felt a lot more prominent.

"Don't know. He didn't say anything other than needing to see you."

He shared a glance with Roman. Confusion passed between them as well as uncertainty. "I'll check it out. Thanks."

Jamahl left with a nod of his head.

“You’re not actually going over there are you?” Roman set down his pen to give Virgil his full attention. “We don’t know who he is. Or if he’s human. He could be anything.”

“Right. So you’re gonna watch my back.” He looped around from behind the bar, leaving Roman gaping in his seat. "The answer's Prince Phillip, by the way."

He couldn't hold back a smirk at Roman's astonished mumble, "Why are you so good at this?"

He walked along the booths and took note of the people still in the building. Many of them were in groups; friends having a good time out for once. Very few were drunk. He slowed to a stop at a booth with only one person. A man lazily playing with a fork and zero interest in anything around him. He didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the patrons.

Once the man noticed Virgil staring, he looked up. A slow smile stretched along his face. Not a Figment, then. "I heard you're looking for Altair."

Virgil slipped a hand in his pocket. "Says who?"

"Says a lot of people. But more specifically, you did."

Oh, shit, he did. Maybe talking out in the open about magic wasn't the smartest thing to do. Virgil wasn't the only person in the world good at eavesdropping. "Okay. So why does that matter to you?" He slid into the seat across from the man.

"It doesn't, really, but I do happen to have a conscience. And that means I can't go on unless I tell you what I know."

"How is it that you know anything?"

He set the fork down and placed his hands together. "I guess you can call me a theorist of sorts. I figure out things so other people don't have to." He winked.

Virgil didn't find it amusing. "So what does that have to do with me?" He moved the pen out onto his lap, twisting it between his fingers.

"I have things that you want -- well, one thing. Altair's location."

He placed his elbow on the table top without stopping the pen from moving. “How can you know that? No one knows that.”

“Correction: no one wants you to know that. Anyone who does know is saving their own skin.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. “Then why would you say anything? What makes you so different than anyone else?”

He smirked a bit, but maybe that was his version of a smile. “It’s my job. If someone needs something found out, then I go through the efforts of getting all the information I can. Now, you didn’t request my services but I feel you need my help. I have a hunch that you’re on a bit of a time limit.”

“Then get on with it.” Almost as if on impulse, Virgil stopped and clicked the pen. Instead of a dagger, however, the ballpoint tip poked out like it was a normal pen.

“Don’t brandish a weapon in public,” Thomas’s voice hissed at him.

Right. That wouldn’t have been smart. The muffled sound of the voices around them was a gentle reminder that they weren’t alone for this discussion. All it would take was one glance in their direction to see a dangerous weapon out in the open. There was no way he’d be able to explain that.

The Theorist didn’t seem all that impressed. “Why don’t we put the pen down?” He pushed Virgil’s hand down to the table with a finger.

Virgil scowled, clicking the pen and putting it back in his pocket. “How am I supposed to know if I can trust you?”

“Oh, you don’t --” Virgil was about ready to leave without a second glance back -- “but is that a chance you’re willing to take? Do you honestly think Logan will last until you get a lead of your own?”

Virgil stared at him in shock. “How the hell do you know about Logan?”

He placed a finger to his smirking lips. “I have to keep some of my secrets.” He dropped the act, suddenly taking on a serious tone. “Do you want the info or not?”

Virgil pursed his lips. If this was a trick, he’d be putting everyone in danger by saying yes. If it wasn’t, he’d run the risk of killing Logan by saying no. Either decision had a dangerous consequence. “What’s the catch?”

“There isn’t one. Maybe let me know the conclusion to your story. I do appreciate a good ending.” He offered out his hand.

Fuck it. “Fine.” Virgil shook it to seal the deal. “Tell me everything you know.”

So Virgil listened. The Theorist explained how Altair nearly perfected the art of hiding away. Nearly, but not quite. He most often stuck to less populated areas. Which, as time marched on, became harder to find. He was left sticking to places that people abandoned. And that’s where he was now. In an old, run-down building off of Hazelnut and Terrace. Just right outside their little city of Balledo.

“It shouldn’t be hard to miss, but I’d watch out for anything. I hear he doesn’t take kindly to intruders.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He slid out of the booth to head back over to the bar. “Thanks or whatever.”

“Charming,” the Theorist muttered. “Oh, and Virgil,” Virgil froze. He didn’t recall ever saying his name, “watch out for that little boy, would you? He seems to get into a lot of trouble.”

Virgil didn’t have a verbal response to that. He continued on his way as if he hadn’t heard it at all. But he couldn’t pretend he didn't hear it even if he wanted to. It almost sounded like a warning -- a certainty. Like he knew something Virgil didn't.

"What happened? What did he do? Are you okay?" Roman didn't wait to bombard Virgil with questions. He even stopped him before he got behind the bar.

“I’m gonna need you to tone it down real quick.” He returned Roman down into his seat. “I’m fine. We just talked -- he said he had information for me.”

“What kind of information?”

“Where Altair is.”

Roman’s eyes widened. “Like actually? He knows where he is?”

“That’s what he said.” He frowned a bit. “I don’t know how reliable that is, though. Patton and Logan have been searching forever with no sign of him, but suddenly this guy knows where to look? Seems a bit suspicious.”

Roman frowned as well. “Then what are we supposed to do? This is the closest we’ve gotten yet -- are we just gonna pass it up? Logan’s not gonna last forever.”

“I know. We just -- we just need someone to know if this is true. We have to ask someone else.”

They didn’t talk about it for the rest of the night. Not even on the car ride back home. They let it hang in the air over them, constant ‘what-if’ scenarios playing out in their heads.

Once they stepped into the house, they stopped in their tracks. One light was on in the living room. Thomas sat on the floor, a canvas in front of him and a paintbrush in his hand. It looked like he was struggling to stay awake. His palette carried a mix of dark colors which translated onto the canvas as that cloaked figure in the grass as before, though this time it appeared more completed. There were five purple hyacinths -- a flower with clusters of star-shaped petals -- but the one the figure touched was starting to wilt. Its fingers transformed the deep purple of the petals into a murky brown.

"Hey, kid," Virgil said in a low voice as he took a seat on the couch. He vaguely registered Roman heading off to his room. It became a sort of unspoken agreement that Virgil would be the one to talk to Thomas whenever they found him up late. "Whatcha up to?"

Thomas blinked a few times. "Painting."

"Really? Kind of seemed like you were falling asleep."

He yawned. "No."

Virgil couldn't help the small smile that twitched at his lips. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Painting."

"I see that. But you should be in bed. It's late and you look exhausted."

Thomas waved a hand as if to dismiss such an idea. "It's only two AM. I can handle staying up later." Despite his words, he rubbed his eye, and ended up smearing black paint underneath it.

"It's almost three, kid."

"What?" He looked over to the digital clock beneath the TV. Sure enough, the time was a lot closer to three than it was to two. "Oh, man. I guess I have been up for a while."

"What's keeping you up?" Virgil let his eyes wander over the canvas. It was a rather dreary painting if he were to be honest.

Thomas shrugged. "Just needed to do something." He ran the brush up and down the palette, leaving a dark streak in its wake.

Right away Virgil could tell something was wrong. Like an innate instinct that pulled at his stomach. "Is there something on your mind?"

"I've just… I've been thinking."

"About what?"

He dropped the brush and sighed. A heavy and sad sound. "Logan's been hiding something. I know he has. But he doesn't want to tell me." He occupied himself with his hands by peeling off the dried up paint that dotted them. "And I know that you and Roman know, too," Virgil felt his stomach drop, "but I don't want to hear it from you. I want Logan to tell me."

"Why's that? You could easily ask either of us and we'd tell you."

"I know Logan almost as well as Patton. He wouldn't want you to say anything." Virgil had to agree. "And it's not the point. If he were to tell me, it would be straight from the source without any of your filters. Except he's never going to tell me no matter how many times I ask." He stopped messing with his hands. "He still thinks of me as a little kid. He treats me like I'm still five years old and I can't handle anything. I'm almost a hundred. I'm not that immature, am I?"

"Of course not. But… you are a kid, Thomas. You're his kid. He doesn't want to upset you."

"And keeping things from me is supposed to make that better?" He frowned at Virgil. His eyes were starting to water. "It's something big. It has to be. Why else would he keep it from Patton, too?"

Virgil hesitated. There was a chance it made Thomas feel better. "Maybe it won't be an issue anymore."

Thomas furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I may have found out where Altair is. And that might help his problem."

His eyes widened. "For real?"

"Maybe. I don't know if the person who told me can be trusted."

"Who told you?" Before Virgil could even open his mouth, Thomas continued, "no. Wait. Don't say anything. I know exactly who we have to ask." He paused. "Maybe when it's a normal time. I don't think they'd want to be woken up in the middle of the night."

"I guess that means you should head to bed, then."

"I am ninety-four years old. You're not the boss of me." He rubbed his eyes again. "But on an unrelated note, I will be heading up to my room after I clean up."

Virgil shook his head with a fond smile. "Don't forget to wash your face. You look like a raccoon."

The next morning, Virgil woke up at the ungodly hour of 8:30 AM. That shouldn't have been a real time. He would have stayed in bed if someone didn't open up the curtains to let all the awful sun in. He let out a mixture of a groan and a whine as he tried to block it out with his blankets. It didn't work.

"Come on, Virgil." Thomas shook his shoulder. "We gotta go see Joan and Talyn so you can tell them who you saw. We'll be back before you know it."

Virgil pulled down the blanket enough to scowl, though in his groggy state it might have come across as a pout. "This is my sleeping time. I have work tonight. Which, in case you didn't notice, requires me to stay up late."

"You can sleep when we get back." He yanked off the blankets.

Virgil groaned in loud and obvious annoyance but rolled out of bed anyway. After a slight wardrobe change, they were on their way.

"Going to Joan's with Virgil, be back as soon as possible," Thomas mentioned in passing to Patton and Logan.

"Before breakfast?" Patton asked from the stove.

The mention of food made Virgil's mouth water despite rarely ever eating breakfast in his life.

"Save us some," was Thomas's response.

"Don't tell Roman I'm taking his car," Virgil called back as he grabbed the keys. "I don't want to deal with his whining when I'm sleeping later." Then they left.

They hopped up the front steps to a familiar little house in a sleepy neighborhood. Virgil still felt like staying in bed was a better option. He didn’t know how Thomas could be so awake. He didn’t know how anyone could be so awake. It was exhausting to think about.

That thought only tripled in his mind upon seeing Joan having no trouble at such an early hour in the morning. Well, early to Virgil at least. Far too early.

“So what’s up?” Joan asked as they all sat down in the living room. Talyn was already there with a little dog in their lap. Sephone wasn’t anywhere to be seen, which made Virgil on edge.

“We need you to fact check some things,” Thomas explained. "Virgil met someone who thinks they know where Altair is."

"Who was it?"

Virgil snapped out of his nervous scanning of the room to process the words that were spoken to him. "Uh, I never figured out his name. He referred to himself as a theorist, I think."

"Wait -- a theorist? Or the Theorist?" Talyn questioned.

"Um. I don't really know." He pulled his hoodie sleeves down to cover part of his palms. "He said he figured things out so people don't have to if that helps."

Talyn thought for a moment. "Sounds like him."

"Who's him?" Thomas looked at them in confusion.

"I would also like to know about this mysterious guy you know so much about," Joan added.

Talyn ignored the obvious teasing in favor of laying down some exposition. "They call him the Theorist, but that's all anyone really knows about him. He's like an urban legend, really. Just a name whispered around when you need to know something you probably shouldn't. He's a Seer, I think."

"What's a Seer?" Virgil asked.

"Someone who can see the future," Thomas explained. "But, like, they can just do it themselves. They don't need a spell or mystic object or anything. They can also look into the past if they want. Logan's sister was a Seer, actually --"

"We don't need a history lesson at this exact second, Thomas," Joan said.

Virgil felt as if he needed one. How long has Logan had a sister?

"Right. Uh, so does that mean we can trust what he says?"

Talyn pondered the question for a moment. "From what I've heard, he usually gives out genuine information. Sometimes what he says isn't always true, but that's a rare circumstance. I think I've only met one person who's complained about him. He's a pretty chill guy."

"What are the chances he's given us the right information?" Virgil grimaced. He jumped at the feeling of something in his lap. One of Sephone's heads looked up at him with puppy eyes. For a big dog, she was rather sneaky.

"Nine out of ten?" Talyn shrugged. "I've only ever heard stories, but he never tries to trick anyone. He genuinely likes helping people."

"That sounds like a good sign." Thomas grinned.

Maybe it did. But Virgil couldn't find anything to celebrate about. The Theorist could see into the future -- he had a natural ability to do so -- which meant that the warning he gave Virgil shouldn’t be taken lightly. He knew more than he was saying. And Virgil didn’t want to experience it first hand.

(Next)

[shadowtarot]

Thieves in Inaba: Kou and Daisuke put their heads together to escape! Will they succeed? Or do you think the Persona group will find them first?

Thieves In Inaba Part 36

Heat…and the sound of water moving. Kou starts to open his eyes slowly, only to find himself in a steam filled room. Holding his head and breathing heavyly due to the steam, he starts to look around.

“Where…am I?” He suddenly winces and holds his left ankle. It’s hurting like hell, as if he just had a dog bite him. “Ngh!” 

A door slides open on the other side of the room as a humanoid figure starts to walk to Kou. Due to the steam however, it’s hard for the basketball player to tell if it’s friend or foe. 

“You’re awake.” It says, voice echoing though the room as it continues to walk to him. 

“W-who are you?!” He reaches for something to defend himself with, finding a mop to be his only weapon. 

“Come on man, it’s me.” The figure breaks through the steam, revealing it to be Daisuke. Kou gives a sigh of relief. 

“Were you holed up in that room over there then?” He asks, struggling to stand up with his bite. 

“Yeah. This place doesn’t look a thing like Amagi…so where did those wolf things bring us?” The two look around and sigh. 

“It’s too hot in here, it’s obviously a Sauna but…why would we be here?” Kou mumbles. “Well..we should try to get out of here. Who knows how many of those people got hurt. We need to get back there.”

“But you’re hurt aren’t you? We shouldn’t try to push it.” Daisuke looks at his friends injury with deep concern. 

“There’s a chest right there.” Kou points. “Maybe it has something in it?”

Walking carefully, Kou opens it to find medicine and a ball of some sort. The duo seem confused. 

“Random medicine in a random place….do you think it’s safe?” Daiskue asks as Kou looks it over. 

“It says…apply to injury as needed..results work instantly…” 

“I don’t trust it, that’d mean it’s like…magic medicine. Isn’t that impossible?”

Kou looks at his friend with a tired expression. “We were kidnapped by shadowy wolf monsters, dragged to a crazy sauna and we found out that a bunch of people we went to high school with might have some sort of supernatural powers. I’m willing to trust a lot more crazy crap right now.”

With that, he applies the medicine to his injury as it heals it completely. The duo just had to make their escape now.

“What would be the best way to break out of here, man?”  Kou is already picking up the mop again, leaving Daisuke confused. “Uh, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I did. But all these doors are super weak right? If we can break them down, then we can break outta here.” He readies his mop to throw it like a Javelin. 

With careful aim he throws it…only to miss entirely. 

“Why don’t you try the ball?” Daisuke throws it to him and Kou catches it with ease. 

“Worth a shot I guess..” Again with careful aim, he throws the ball and it crashes through the door with ease, giving them access to a hallway.

“YES!” 

“Let’s hang on to this ball, it might be a better weapon then that lame ass mop.” 

The two make their way through the Sauna, hiding from shadows patrolling the area as they go along. But the way to the ground floor from where they were was going to be a long trek, especially since the heat of the sauna was getting to them both..

Elsewhere in the TV World, a hold up is taking place. Ren has Akechi at gunpoint as the other members of his group stand with them, ready to back him up. 

“Talk. Why are you here, and how the hell did you make it out of Shido’s Palace?” Ren’s eyes are intense and serious, a stark contrast to his normal cocky mannerisms as Joker. 

Akechi returns the demand with a small sigh, pulling back enough of his shirt to reveal several gunshot wounds. 

Naoto looks closely, and her eyebrows raise. “These shots all missed the heart by a very small margin….”

“Exactly. I was all prepared to die at that moment, but somehow…someway..I didn’t.” He fixes his shirt as he speaks. 

Mishima wavers a bit, unsure if he should lower his weapon or not. “So you survived  several gunshots, yet you didn’t make your appearance back in Tokyo?”

“Had I made my status of being alive public, I would have been hunted down and killed before I could testify against Shido, I hope you realize this.” Akechi shakes his head. 

“…lower your weapons everyone.”

“Well, if this scary as shit interrogation session is over, can we move on to our first dungeon?” Youske asks. “Yo Rise, have you pinpointed anyone in any of them yet that seem to be alive?” 

“Yes actually.” She responds, her persona already in use to track movement. 

“Awesome! Which one?”

“The Sauna.” 

The color from Yosuke’s face drains…as does Yu and Kanji. None of them look too keen on heading in there.

“Ahaha…on second thought…Ren is there anything else you need to question Akechi on? I don’t mind if we-” 

“Oh will you just grow a pair?” Adachi rolls his eyes. 

Minato sighs, shaking his head, “Let’s just go. Be prepared to be in there for a long time everyone…” 

The group moves out, immediately greeted by the heat and steam. They all have trouble navigating the area. Eventually getting themselves lost.

“Yo, didn’t you all like…go through this shit already? Why the hell are we lost then?!” Ryuji quietly yells. 

“One: this place brings back uncomfortable memories, Two: it’s been a few years, and Three: this place changes it’s layout every time!” Yosuke responds at the same volume.

“Hmm…so it’s like Mementos…” Ren nods as he looks around. 

But as the group tries to get their bearings, a shadow roars nearby. 

“Yeah, take this!” 

Yu looks up to the source of the voices. “Is that…Kou?” Yu draws his Katana from it’s seethe. “Let’s move!” 

The group runs to the source, finding Kou and Daisuke fighting eight shadows…but they both look worn out from the over exertion and the heat. 

“Yu? How…did you get here?” Kou asks, clearly close to dropping. 

“It’s a long story but, why don’t you take five? We’ll take over from here.” With that the Shadows engage the Persona users in combat. 

The sports duo watches as they all fight, amazed when Yu summons Izanagi to cut through a shadow with ease. 

“Man…these guys act like this is nothing…” Daisuke observes. “How’d they even get these powers huh?” 

Akechi cuts clean though a shadow with his sword. “Please, these shadows aren’t even worth my time.” 

“Yo Crow! Why don’t you try to take control of a shadow?” Ryuji calls out, blocking a few strikes.

“I can try…COME, LOKI!” He attempts to take control of a shadow, but suddenly grabs his chest in pain. “Ngh! W-What the hell?” 

Mishima shakes his head. “Seems he can’t for some reason.” The new persona user fires a shot at a shadow, missing it. 

“We don’t have time to rely on abilities that aren’t instant. We’re running the risk of loosing our civilians here!” Mitsuru states. “Just keep fighting the old fashioned way and we’ll be fine.”

The fighting rages on, with more Shadows appearing to assist along the way, getting stronger and stronger each time. 

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Ren dropkicks a shadow in annoyance. “What can we do to speed this up?!”

Yu suddenly has an idea. “Ren, Minato…remember our sparing match earlier?” The other two look to him as he smirks, returning the expression. 

“We’re in a tight area…so this could be risky…but let’s try it.” Minato laughs a bit. 

The trio begin to summon their main Persona at the same time.

“Orpheus!”

“Izanagi!”

“Arsene!”

At once, Fire lightning and curse fuse into one attack, striking the shadows down and paralyzing them. This leaves them open for addional attacks by the rest.

“I’ll be damned…seems you kids aren’t useless after all.” Adachi laughs as he finishes a few shadows off. 

Soon the hallway is shadow free. But Kou and Daisuke passed out during the conflict. Mishima runs to them and checks them, looking for any sort of injuries.

“Are they…okay Yuki?” Youske asks, kneeling down beside them.

“Heat exhaustion…who knows how long they’ve been in here. Fighting..running…it’d tire anyone out in these conditions.” He tries to lift Kou up, and manages to just barely. 

“We’ll need to get them somewhere safe to treat them…” Naoto states. “The training hall is the only safe place we have however….” 

“We’ll need to make that our home base for now…” Makoto sighs, standing near Akihiko as he lifts Daisuke up. 

“Mona? Can you be our transport back?” Ren asks. 

The cat simply nods in response as they all start to head out of the steamy bathhouse. 

But a presence is following them as they head out. Minato looks behind himself briefly. 

“….”

[contagious-addiction]

The Adventures of Mollycock Pealeaf and Co. Pt 1

Beaten, bloody, and furious, Beau brought her staff down with a resounding crack atop the remaining magic user’s head. They crumpled into a pathetic heap at her feet as she struck them one more time for good measure, just to vent her anger at being surprised - once again - by an ambush in the middle of the night. It was something she was really starting to get tired of.

Nott was heavily wounded, two large gashes in her sides but still managing to carry herself closer to the rest of the group with her crossbow still notched.

“Yasha? Fjord? Jester?” Beau called over her shoulder after giving Nott a nod, scanning the area for the heads of her companions she’d lost track of in the fray.

The snow obscured their forms over the dip of the hill, but the sound of Fjord’s “We’re alright” Yasha’s “I am fine.” and Jester’s “Right as rain!” seemed to show that they weren't in any harm.

“I think we have, ah… A problem, Beauregard.” Caleb spoke hesitantly from his place on the ground, cloak obscuring what she could only assume was Molly. Beau shifted, her brows pulling together as she frowned, suddenly worried.

“Hah?”

Caleb scratched the back of his head with a strange expression on his face. He looked puzzled but almost... Asmused.

“Mollymauk.” His mouth twitched and he cleared his throat, hiding his grin with the back of his head. “He is a... Bird. For now.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

Nott stopped her scavenging of the bodies of the sorcerers around them and watched Caleb stand aside to reveal in all his glory, a lavender peacock with horns and jewelry to match.

Fjord, Yasha, and Jester crested the edge of the snow covered hill just in time to watch Beauregard dopple over in a fit of laughter while Nott brought her silver flask to her lips, drinking deeply in response.

“Why is it always Molly shit happens to.” Beaureguard howled, bent over and clutching her sides in pain and histarea.

The peacock - polymorphed Mollymauk, as Caleb said between his own smirk - seemed to take offence in Beau’s laughter, his feathers lifting as he made a god awful trill of a noise and displayed his wings aggressively at Beau, flapping them and kicking the air in her direction. Snow followed his movements and he sunk lower into the powder before shaking his feathers again and jerking his head to look at the figure of Caleb beside him as if to plead for his defense. He was given no assistance from Caleb, who only lifted and eyebrow and shrugged.

Beau flinched at Molly’s display and brought up her staff, holding it between herself and Mollymauk

“I fuckin’ hate birds.” Beau grouched, glaring at Mollymauk before looking up at Caleb who had contained his previous laughter and was now watching Mollymauk with interest.

“Can’t Jester turn him back with one of her restoration spells?” Nott asked as the rest of the Mighty Nein caught up and took in the sight of Molly.

“Mollymauk will be fine,” Caleb assured them as Jester gasped excitedly, eyeing the new visage of Mollymauk as if he were a cute puppy instead of the distressed form of a polymorphed Mollymauk. “This spell will wear off in an hour or two at most. For now we, ah. Have to keep him from running away or hurting himself. Which should be easy enough.”

“Molly you are so cute.” Jester cooed, rushing up to kneel beside him. Molly blinked at her and tilted his head, fluffing his feathers and raising his tail feathers slightly which were oddly maroon, similar to his coat both in color as well as spotted with the vague symbols of his coat. “I don’t think you’d very warm with your little bird legs in the snow so let me carry you.”

Reaching out for him was a mistake on Jester’s part. Mollymauk raised his legs and wings, pushing off her offered arms in a desperate attempt to distance himself from her embrace.

“Ouch-” Jester rubbed her inner arm where Molly scratched her, pouting as Mollymauk flared his wings and quickly retreated and flead down the snowy hill.

“Shit he’s runnin’-!” Fjord cursed.

“Yasha, grab him!” Beau shouted.

“Oh. Ah. Okay.”

Bending down, Yasha beconed Mollymauk from her place a bit farther down the hill. Molly slowed, but lowered his head and tried to dart past Yasha after a moment of hesitation. It was all over for him in that moment as her hands caught him in a vice grip around both wings in a way that held him secure as well as kept him pinned to the snowy ground. He made a call of distress and eyed Yasha with betrayal in his eyes.

“Got him.” She called as the rest of the group followed suit.

“Mollymauk.” Caleb knelt and Molly’s wide red eyes snapped to attention, training themselves on the wizard warily. “I’m going to cover your head with my jacket. You will feel safer then but you must trust us.”

Molly’s eyes narrowed and his neck bobbed as he took in the sight of his friends.

“Ja, that is good.” Caleb soothed before slipping his battered coat off his shoulders and throwing it over Yasha’s hands.

“Should I-”

“Mm. You can let go Yasha, I’ve got him. Danke.”

With quick hands Yasha released Mollymauk and Caleb replaced her hands with his own, folding the coat around Mollymauk snugly but enough to allow him room to shift if he was uncomfortable.

“There.” Caleb huffed, his breath sending plumes of steam into the air.

“Jeez, you would think he would have been fine with me picking him up…” Jester frowned as she stood beside Caleb. “I can take him now if he’s too heavy for you Caleb.” She offered.

“No, it is fine.” He assured her, shaking his head once before adjusting his grip and holding Mollymauk a bit closer to his chest. He could hear him make a soft crooning trill, which was still loud compared to the volume of the group around him, but not nearly as loud as the near screech he’d sent Beauregard’s way before.

“Yes yes, you are fine now, Circus Man.” Caleb reminded Mollymauk before looking to the rest.

Jester was already tending to the rest of the crew, patching them up with healing words and first aid where it was needed. Luckily Caleb was barely touched, thanks to Mollymauk’s quick reflexes and successful blood maladict. He just was hit in Caleb’s sted with one of the caster’s last ditch spells.

“You make a very good bird Mr. Mollymauk. Very showy.” Caleb said with a grin as he trudged his way back to their cart through the snow. They got a new cart weeks ago after they rescued their friends and Molly had… Well. Caleb tried very hard not to dwell on what transpired then aside the fact they needed to be more careful with the people they make enemies with in the future.

He could hear Molly hiss under his coat and Caleb chuckled softly, carefully adjusting his grip on Mollymauk so his tail feathers weren’t bent awkwardly against his arm.

“I am sorry,” he admitted “I did not think the caster would turn you into - ah - eh. A peacock. Like that. But you will return to normal soon.”

He reached the horses and cart soon enough, climbing into the canvases back of it with Mollymauk as the rest of the party got to their own horses - three of which they’d purchased recently due to the death of their other two horses and release of Loaf after the kidnapping situation.

Settling against a sack of grain they kept for the horses, Caleb settled Mollymauk in front of him and lifted his coat hesitantly.

Molly raised his head with a jerk, glancing around the wagon before seeming to relax.

Satisfied that Mollymauk wouldn’t run off immediately, Caleb sniffed and pulled his coat back over his shoulders since the biting cold was starting to numb his hands, wrapped as they were.

Mollymauk snapped his beak twice, catching Caleb’s attention as he crawled into his lap.

“Ah- wait, Mollymau-“ Caleb protested with his arms up, but it was no use. Molly worked his way into Caleb’s lap, feathers fluffed and tail splayed out behind him in a maroon waterfall of feathers as he made himself comfortable in the crook of his cold legs.

“Okay.” He sighed, resigning himself to a lap full of bird that reminded him strangely of Frumpkin weight wise. Molly adjusted his wings and flared them ever so slightly, and Caleb hesitated for a moment before letting his cold fingers press into the inviting peaks of Molly’s feathers.

He was warm. Not that Caleb thought he would be anything different, but it was still a drastic difference from the ice of his finger tips that his skin felt raw and ached.

Mollymauk barely reacted, just stared outside the wagon as the rest of the Nein saddled their horses and talked amongst themselves. He did however, make an awful crooning call sound that made Caleb jolt and Molly shift in his lap. By the sound of it Mollymauk had caused Beau to fall off her horse, her indignant “Fuck You Molly!” following soon after.

“You stop that.”

Mollymauk turned his attention to Caleb now and if a peacock could look smug, Mollymauk was in fact wearing a shit eating grin. As if to say “now why would I do that”.

With a shake of his head and a gentle brush of his fingers through Mollymauk’s feathers, he turned his attention away from his feathered friend and out the back of the cart as Yasha poised her horse just behind the wagon. Most likely to guard their backs, but mostly to keep an eye on Mollymauk in case he tried any other daring escapes while he was transformed.

“Ready back there Caleb?” Nott’s voice called from the front of the wagon - she must be driving the horses today.

“Ja. We are settled.”

“Let’s move out then.” Fjord called from ahead somewhere.

“Yeah I’m sick of sleeping in the cold,” Jester replied with a sigh “Next town we stop at we’re staying at the nicest, warmest hotel okay?”

“I’m alright with that.” Yasha replied.

“Eh. I mean. We could save up our coin for, I don’t know, diamonds worth 300 gold a piece or something instead.” Nott stressed.

“Now that is a stupid idea.” Jester pouted, and Caleb shook his head with a fond grin. He didn’t have to see her to know she was springboarding off of Nott’s criticism and would make sure they had what they needed by the time they reached any type of situation close to death again.

The cart lurched forward at the snap of Nott’s wrist, and Caleb grasped Mollymauk a bit firmer who slipped in his grasp with a displeased hiss.

“Sorry.” Caleb apologized as Mollymauk settled himself again in the tangle of his legs.

[elkian]

Chapter 15, Eirika’s side, Part 1

Here’s an LP to follow along with (reminder that I am using the Restoration Queen mod, which changes the dialogue - i’ll document the changes as I go)

Immediately following Oh... Seth...“ are these shots

text got auto-skipped, I think it said: 

“Rausten’s knights are scattered and worn“

End scene.

So a lot of the bulk got rewritten here, so it feels more like a conversation than a tutorial.

Valter’s creepy mooning is retranslated into Worthy Foe territory. It works pretty well and makes Eirika feel like an actual person he’s interacted with rather than a set piece.

This line is new.

“You care nothing for friend or foe” -> “You care nothing for friends or kings“, which makes... way more sense, in context. Otherwise the entire paragraph reads as ‘you don’t actually care about fighting, all you want to do is get off’.

 This follows immediately, cutting out some text.

This is the last part changed, “Come to me!” -> “Come, face me!”

Overall they’ve done really well at keeping Valter creepy and unhinged while making him more of an opponent and less of stalker.

Now we get into gameplay.

Sadly Amelia is going to be absolutely useless on a desert map, and Rennec is going to be essential for treasure-picking.

Oh lord, I forgot I have to kill Valter and Caellach this map. Good times.

Thank God there’s a Vendor right next to the starting point, because Artur and Ewan are both down to a used tome apiece.

Ewan has to do two shots to kill either of these Mercs ;_;

That Berserker has a Hand Axe and a Dragon Axe, and whichever they’re not wielding on death will be dropped. So Rennac is going to go sit on a tree and hopefully dodge.

(Love yourself and look up a treasure map before doing this chapter)

I’ll take it.

...I just realized Ewan is two points away from capping Magic.

Tethys encourages him to do a repeat performance - he can now one-shot the other Merc, which Rennac could not and had a 1% chance to get critted by.

How in God’s name did that hit you.

Well, he’s a point away from capping both Skill and Speed.

Colm is surprisingly battle-worthy. (With Neimi’s Support bonus, of course)

Oops.

Perfect.

This is a huge Rout map with a lot to get, so I’m going to try to take it slow.

Ewan wastes the Berserker for an acceptable level. Frankly I’m thrilled to see HP on him because the boy is squishy.

End of the second player turn, and the prodigal brother appears. Fairly minimal changes to this text.

Ow. Fortunately, Ewan can double, even if he can’t dodge.

At first I was scared of this Shaman with their (droppable) Luna... and then I noticed their attack was 8.

This is just sad.

All three Fighters on the left come for Artur. He dodges and doubles all of them, but only for about 10 EXP apiece. Hmm.

Peg reinforcements appear in the upper right, but Cormag, who’s been in mothballs for like 4 chapters, can handle them in his sleep. The Steel Lance negates their Speed and he can double them with ease.

He also gets more than 10 EXP a kill, which is good, cause this is a level that’s not going anywhere fast.

Aw yisss.

Luna’s weight is a massive 12 (that Shaman had 5 Speed and 7 Con, meaning their Attack Speed was 0) to offset the fact that it straight up ignores Resistance. And Ewan is on the fast track to capping Magic. Good times.

This is just hilarious.

Tana’s dealing double with Iron what they do with Steel, AND can attack them twice. God.

Garcia looks at a Peg funny and it dies. He gets a pretty nice level for his efforts.

The LPer doesn’t comment on the houses, so idk what they normally say, but this one adds “Hm? How do I know this? It’s my job.” so good lampshading here.

Natasha tops Josh off for a pretty okay level.

Colm nicks a Mymidon for an excellent level.

I’m glad their AS is a joke because this is a little nerve-wracking.

REALLY glad he dodged the first one.

At this point I’m starting to wish I’d fielded a second healer instead of Tethys. Too late now.

Aw siiiiiick. The Silver Card halves the cost in every shop, even Secret Shops.

One thing I do really wish this game had is the ease of inspection later titles introduce - a button to display every enemy’s danger zone, the ability to select specific foes so you can keep an eye on their zone, and the ability to sweep over a unit and check their loadout at a glance.

For example, Knoll here is at actual risk of being slaughtered by this cavalier, who has a javelin. I moved Duessel up and healed Ephraim, so they’re performing wall duties while Knoll hides.

Knoll has a Nosferatu tome, but its Weight is 14, 2 higher than Luna, and the Cav is guaranteed to double him if I equip him with it for countering. The cav’s javelin can knock Knoll down to 1 HP on the first hit, and there’s no way he can heal that back.

How in the fuck do you keep getting hit on these odds? Do you just want Natasha to spend time with you instead of Cormag??

... wow, even with WTD Rennac is outdamaging these Pegs with a lower-tier weapon.

I love -Reaver weapons. She crits on the first attack, too, saving me a use.

I feed Neimi a kill that probably should have gone to Artur. She makes the most of it, though.

I should have left the Lancereaver equipped. Oh well, she still doesn’t take a scratch and even crits one (sadly the Rapier’s killing power is a bit lacking vs wyverns).

All the fucking southern Cavaiers are coming for my trio, and one loops around my defensive wall to take most of Knoll’s newly-restored HP off. We have 1 vulnerary left, so my plan is to have Duessal grab him and he and Ephraim make a beeline for the north.

...savestate. I took a savestate before I ended the turn.

After reseeding the RNG three or four times, he finally survives. Artur also picks up a level laughing in the Thunder Mage’s faces.

Also, it’s really helpful on every attempt that Eirika dodged at least one of the Wyverns, because two hits would kill her.

We don’t do this. Thank goodness Caellach doesn’t move. Can you imagine this level if either or both the bosses moved?

Duessal gives 0 shits about ‘Rescue Penalties’.

Cormag gives 0 shits about ‘Siege Tomes’.

...it’s a good thing we started running, cause a whole mess of reinforcements start popping up.

Whatever.

Apparently, Rescuing someone makes you a magnet for all enemy attacks. I should have traded him one of Ephraim’s Steel Lances ;_;

...

Oh Lord this was a bad idea. Thankfully Colm dodges and gets a pretty nice chunk of EXP for nicking the guy.

Even Paladins cannot pierce his unbreakable hide.

I almost forgot about you.

Cormag dodges and slaughters this poor Troubadour for a dropped Mend stave and an okay level. Faster, more accurate, dodgier? I can live with this.

I had to reload because I put Cormag all alone in the middle of a bunch of mages and axe users. Josh gets this level instead of his Speed-Luck one. I am very happy.

I’m a genius. None of these Shaman can get around Ewan to attack his sister. Not that they’d do much damage, but it’s hard to counter-kill them when they do.

This was vs a Cavalier, not a Peg Knight. I love Cormag.

Duessal takes damage from something other than a mage. Too bad for these chumps that he’s almost met up with the rest of the group, and Tana’s all ready to swoop in and Take Knoll next turn.

Look at this. Shit’s ridiculous.

Colm nicks a Cav for a great level.

Tethys boosts Natasha.

And Natasha heals Knoll.

Pffft! Dream on, you wouldn’t have a chance even if Neimi was on the other side of the map.

ow

Gettin’ a little hairy. Fortunately he dodges, and the last Cav can only deal 15 damage. Putting him here was not the best idea, though.

ow

 C’mon, Tana, let’s keep those Murder Levels up.

Oh hey, I totally forgot these two had a conversation. The LP fails to mention it, it seems, so I have little to compare to.

nice

Uh-oh. Fortunately the only other enemy in range is a Mage who Artur crits with impunity.

Ephraim+Eirika’s meeting conversation also isn’t documented for some reason -_-. It doesn’t seem changed in any way though.

Neimi chips the remaining Cav for STRENGTH!

Just for funsies, I have Ewan take a whack at one of the bosses. It works out beautifully. Sadly, the space Caellach’s on will refill 9 of that 12 damage.

Amazingly, on the next turn, Knoll lands as well. Artur, with 56%, does not.

I drop a savestate and try this.

Their conversation has no changes, except maybe a comma to an ellipses.

Not bad, buddy.

I try several takedowns, but ultimately...

Tana, Artur, and Knoll all missed on their attempts, but somehow Neimi and Colm got it done. Good job, kids.

I wanted to use Tana so she could hit level 20, but this is okay.

Since this map is huge, I’m going to followup.